Playing with Fire
by Anticipate
Summary: Amourshipping, SatoSere, etc. Takes place shortly after the events of XY 070. Everyone has questions that they don't have the answers to. Some don't know how to find the answers, while others are afraid of what might happen if they dare to try.
1. Chapter 1: Ignition

Words in italics indicate the inner thoughts of Ash.

Ash's POV.

It would be a comical understatement to say that the situation Ash Ketchum currently found himself in was difficult. Giving up his Goodra so that the dragon-type pokémon could live with his friends in the wetlands had to be one of the most painful things he had done on his long journey, even though he did it for all the right reasons. The Kanto native could only remember feeling this sense of loss whenever he felt it was in the best interests of his pokémon to part ways with him, as separating with his human companions and leaving pokémon with professor Oak always seemed to carry the unshakeable feeling that Ash would definitely see the friends he was leaving behind for now again someday. Releasing a pokémon like Goodra was different. Ash knew the chances of him seeing Goodra again once he had finished his business in the Kalos region were slim at best. While the decision tore him up inside and he really wanted to continue travelling with his arguably most powerful partner aside from Pikachu, Ash was still confident in his decision, despite the personal consequences. But he had been through this sort of thing before, and these emotions, while painful, were not new to him.

 _Goodra... why can't I forget about you?_

What really bothered the aspiring pokémon master was that the feeling hadn't disappeared. He was usually able to move on rather quickly after giving up a pokémon, the rigors of the road and the next challenge ahead never failing to give Ash the encouragement he needed to perk up and return to his usual self. Now, several days after Goodra's departure and deep into the route that led to Laverre City from Lumiose City, Ash was still unable to feel his normal, jubilant self. Even worse, his travelling companions were starting to get worried about him. Bonnie had stopped pestering Ash to let him play with or brush his pokémon, instead simply taking care of any chores he forgot to do when they set up and took down camp, Clemont was trying to build a machine that he had overheard him claiming to Serena would make even the most depressed person jolly again, and Serena had the rather strange reaction of avoiding him entirely. It wasn't that she didn't talk to him if he approached her, but she had stopped asking his opinion of things and seemed nervous to interact with him ever since it became obvious that he wasn't quickly getting over the release of Goodra. This cold shoulder treatment was almost upsetting Ash more than losing Goodra, as in his opinion having a friend distance themselves on purpose was worse than giving up a pokémon for the benefit of the pokémon.

 _I suppose that I partially have myself to blame. I haven't been very approachable._

The thought was highlighted by Ash currently lagging behind his friends while Serena, Bonnie and even Clemont were outpacing him, talking and joking pleasantly while Ash had his hands shoved in his pockets, his head down and his thoughts restricted to his mind. Even Pikachu, albeit after Ash had asked it to so he wasn't bringing his closest partner down, was with the others, sitting in Serena's arms and chatting via electricity with Dedenne.

 _Why can't I get over this? What is it with me and loss all of a sudden? Goodra was close to me, just like my other pokémon, but, well... he wasn't Pikachu, or Charizard, or Serena... What? Again?_

The sudden interruption of Serena into Ash's thoughts was becoming more and more common as the trainer was contemplating the issue.

 _Man, why does she keep popping into my head? Maybe there's some connection between her and Goodra that I don't understand. Hmm... they're both from Kalos? So is everyone around me but Pikachu... I have to get out of this funk. How does Clemont do this thinking thing on such a constant basis? Science is so amazing..._

Ash continued the cycle as he had been since losing Goodra for another few hours, feeling bad about Goodra, suddenly thinking about Serena, telling himself to snap out of it, failing, wash, rinse, repeat. The sun had begun to set in the sky, and Clemont had found the group a suitable clearing make their campsite, away from the main route so they wouldn't bother or be bothered by anybody. He was the first to address Ash since lunch, waving him over to help set up the boys tent.

"Hey, Ash, would you mind helping me with this thing?"

"Yeah, sure Clemont." Ash's response carried the same air of sadness his countenance displayed. Clemont sighed to himself and faced Ash directly as they worked on the tent.

"Ash, are you feeling okay? You know you can talk to us if you want to-"

Ash quickly finished working on his side of the tent at an unprecedented speed as Clemont spoke, interrupting him as soon as he finished his task. "Clemont, I'm going out to do a little training before dinner is ready. I won't be far, so just give me a shout when it's time to eat, okay?" he asked.

It wasn't as if Ash squeezing some training in before dinner was unnatural, but the way he went about announcing it told Clemont that Ash was very much still struggling, and for the life of him he couldn't figure out how to get through to the boy to open up so his scientific knowledge could aid in easing the pain he was feeling. Ash stood and began to walk off through some trees towards another clearing the group had passed earlier, something the aspiring pokémon master's battle-conscious mind had identified as ideal training territory despite the boy himself being lost in his own thoughts. He could feel the gazes of his friends burning into him as he made his exit, but he didn't dare turn to face them, to fess up his emotions and break down the pain he felt to them despite a portion of his brain begging him to do so.

 _I can't talk to them about it until I understand how I feel myself. They'd freak out if I broke down in front of them anyways. I don't want Serena and the others to have to see me like this... There it is again!_

Ash sighed to himself as his thoughts brought Serena to his mind for seemingly no reason again. He reached the clearing and found the cognition to release his Frogadier, Fletchinder, and Hawlucha. Pikachu appeared by his side, a little miffed that his trainer had walked off to train without him. Ash quickly realized his mistake and apologized, "Oh... sorry, Pikachu. My mind was elsewhere."

Pikachu conveyed a sarcastic look of "No, really?" to Ash before taking his place on one side of the field. Ash managed to tear his thoughts away from his troubles to focus on the task at hand. "Okay, so... let's practice some double battle tactics. Frogadier, you team up with Pikachu and battle Hawlucha and Fletchinder. Work on trying to cover for each others weaknesses."

The pokémon all looked eager to participate in some real battling after doing nothing for over a day, and faced off in their respective pairs in ready positions.

Ash raised his hands in the air like he was about to start a race. "I'll be refereeing and giving out advice. Remember, you all have weaknesses to cover for your partner. Go for it!" He threw his hands down.

With that, the four pokémon jumped into action, exchanging blows with each other while dodging the more powerful attacks. Frogadier was having a speed showdown with Fletchinder, the bird trying to get its speed up enough with flame charge to successfully out-speed the frog, which was having problems connecting with an aerial target despite the speed advantage, while Pikachu was trying to land a hit on Hawlucha, who was still working on learning to dodge attacks instead of just taking them head on, with measurable success. Ash was proud of his pokémon. They fought on a whole different level compared to what he had seen from many of his previous teams. He felt that he had a really good chance at the league this time if he kept his companions up to speed with training. All he needed was two good pokémon to round out his team, a strong pokémon that could tank attacks as opposed to simply dodging and firing back when possible like the rest of his battlers. He needed a pokémon like...

 _Goodra._

The name slammed into his mind and Ash lost his focus on instructing Hawlucha on how to best avoid Pikachu's thunderbolt attack, causing the flying type to be shocked by a very powerful electric mouse and wave its arms angrily at its trainer. Ash realized his mistake and sheepishly apologized, in his embarrassment and guilt not noticing Frogadier get the upper hand on Fletchinder and send it to the ground with a quick double team and cut combo. He quickly shifted his apologies to Fletchinder before muttering congratulations to Pikachu and Frogadier, ending the match. He rushed to his injured flying types, thankfully finding that they were basically okay, Frogadier and Pikachu holding back their full power for the practice battle. He gave all his partners some oran berries and mentally began to kick himself.

 _This can't continue. I'm going to get myself or someone else hurt. I have to take action on this problem. Maybe I do need to-_

 _"_ Ash?" a small voice rang out to shatter the silence that had formed in the wake of the mistake Ash had made.

The boy turned to see Bonnie meekly approaching from the direction of the groups campsite. The girl seemed reluctant to voice anything to Ash after she had probably witnessed the training mishap. "Bonnie? What's up? Is dinner ready?"

The small lemon-haired girl nodded. "Yeah, it's ready, but... Ash? Can I talk to you? It's kind of... important."

Ash saw where this was going and was ready to brush the girl off, but he remembered his own thoughts and was melted by the pleading look in the child's eyes, compelled by the desire to try and find an end to the woe he was bringing their travelling party. "You know what? Yeah. I want to talk anyways. Pikachu, everyone. You all go ahead, have Clemont look at you in case I missed an injury. Bonnie and I will catch up."

Ash's pokémon, recovering from their minor hiccup, obliged and scurried off as Bonnie quickly walked up to Ash and sat across from him before he could change his mind. She clearly hadn't expected Ash to actually be willing to open up to her and seemed a bit frazzled, unsure of how to continue. Ash noticed this and took a deep breath, deciding to initiate the conversation himself. "Bonnie, do you ever start thinking about something, only to realize you were actually thinking about something else for no reason?"

Bonnie tilted her head in complete confusion. "Are you trying to say you can't stop thinking about Goodra? Or is this something else?"

Ash realized he needed to get to the point or he wouldn't be getting anywhere. "See, here's the problem, Bonnie. In the very rare event that I have to release a pokémon like this... it usually doesn't, well, hurt for this long. You know me, always rushing ahead into the next thing, no time to be sad. And now, I can't seem to stop mourning over Goodra, and whenever I think about Goodra, I keep thinking about someone else, and it sort of stops me from feeling happy I guess. I don't really get it. Does this make any sense?"

Bonnie was frowning for Ash's entire statement, but her eyes flashed briefly with the light of potential realization when Ash mentioned that he was thinking of someone. "Well, Ash, have you talked to this someone about you problem?"

Ash immediately shook his head. "No way. She'll just think it's her fault and I'll have made this more difficult for her than I have for everyone already."

Bonnie's frown completed its inversion as she confirmed who Ash was thinking of, and her course became brilliantly clear. "Ash, you really need to talk to Serena about this."

Ash did a double take. "H-how did you-" was all he managed to stutter out while Bonnie simply smiled understandingly, the way a mother smiles to comfort her child.

"I think your problem doesn't really have to do with Goodra, at least not anymore. We all had our time to come to terms with the way things turned out, but it hit you and Dedenne the hardest. Dedenne started feeling better after I comforted it for a while though, and at first I thought you were taking the longest because Goodra was yours, but... now I'm sure I know what the problem really is." Bonnie was acting far wiser than her years should allow her, displaying how, much in the way Clemont was a genius with machines, Bonnie was always quick to understand the heart and mind.

Ash, however, was getting frustrated at the teasing he was getting of an answer. "So what's the problem I have Bonnie? I want to get back to normal."

Bonnie stifled a giggle. "The fact that you want to get back to normal and still can't just tells me you need to talk to Serena about this."

Ash sighed in exasperation. "Are you sure that it won't make things worse? I wouldn't be able to handle making her feel worse than I already am. She won't even talk to me anymore."

Bonnie enthusiastically nodded. "Definitely. You both need to talk. She's avoiding you because she's worried she might do something wrong to make you feel worse, and you won't talk to her because you don't want to make things worse for her. This is a stalemate that needs to be broken."

Ash hated to admit it, but if what Bonnie was claiming about his close companion was true, then she was right. If he didn't clear the air with Serena, and the whole group by extension, nothing would change, and, according to Bonnie, he wouldn't be able to move on from this mental trap Goodra's departure had caught him in. It was just his friend. Simple conversation was nothing to be worried about.

 _So why am I so nervous?_

"I...suppose I can ask her about this after dinner. What do I even say?"

Bonnie sighed overdramatically. "Exactly what you said to me, silly! I can promise that this will clear up any sort of doubt you have about Goodra and especially Serena. She'll know exactly what your problem is."

Ash was still confused and worried about talking to Serena about his troubles, but the promise of an answer was too enticing for him to turn down at this point, not to mention his stomach was reminding him that he should have started eating about 10 minutes ago with a low rumble. "Fine, Bonnie, you win. I'll talk to Serena tonight, I that's what it takes to fins an answer to my problem."

Bonnie stood and jumped up and down in jubilation. "Yay! Finally! It's finally happening!"

Dedenne poked its small head out of its bag in irritation at the sudden jostling it was receiving, and Bonnie quickly began to babble to her pokémon about how "it" was happening. Ash was confused at the outburst, but he wrote it off as Bonnie being happy about finally getting the Ash she knew back. He suddenly realized that just deciding to do something about his problem had made him feel five times better, and he was able to give a genuine smile to Bonnie as he stood up.

"Ok, Bonnie, let's go get some grub. And thank you for your help. I kinda feel better just talking about it." Bonnie was absolutely giddy at this point.

"Of course, Ash! Bonnie is always here to save the day! Let's eat!" The two companions made their way back to the campsite, bringing pleasant surprise to the faces of Serena and Clemont as they saw that Ash was actually smiling. Clemont was the first to act on the sudden mood change after everyone sat down to eat.

"So... Ash, are you feeling any better?" Ash looked up from absolutely devouring his food and contemplated his response.

 _Am I feeling any better? Well, yeah. Not like I can explain why, though. Not without making things extremely difficult for Serena. I should just be frank with him._

"I...guess so. Bonnie gave me some advice that helped, I think." Ash became a bit flustered when he saw Bonnie smile a cheeky smile and shift her gaze quickly between Ash and Serena, the implications obvious to him.

 _What is wrong with me? Since when have I had a problem with communication? Ugh, I don't need this right now. I can clear everything up as long as I talk to Serena after dinner._

"I'm just not ready to discuss Goodra openly, okay? I'll be fine though, really."

Clemont frowned. "Then nothing has changed. You should really communicate with all of us about this, Ash. Clearly talking with Bonnie helped. If anyone understands how you feel, then I would wager that I would."

Ash was getting ready to deny Clemont as politely as possible, but his final statement both intrigued the trainer and made him suspicious at the same time, causing Ash to bite on Clemont's bet despite his misgivings and Bonnie's frantic signaling to shut her brother down, which earned her a hilariously strange look from Serena. "What makes you say that, Clemont?" he asked, allowing the suspicion in his tone to be noticeable.

Clemont didn't heed the warning and looked up at the evening sky, smiling a sad, nostalgic smile. "Well, I'm sure you remember I had to leave my heliolisk, magnemite and magneton with the gym and Clembot so that challengers would have something to challenge when they take on my gym. It wasn't easy, having them stay behind when I started travelling with you, especially in the beginning when I knew Clembot was still malfunctioning. There isn't a day that passes where I don't think about how they're doing, or if they're okay on their own without me there to lead them, but I know that eventually I'm going to see them again. It's not too different from you and Goodra, really. I can almost scientifically guarantee-"

Ash suddenly shot up from his seat and, to put it quite simply, lost control of himself and yelled directly at Clemont, "This isn't anything like that, Clemont! I have no reason to believe I'll ever see Goodra again!" He didn't even realize how frustrated the inventor's words were making him until he had blurted out the exclamation, but now that he had, his thoughts felt truly clear for the first time since Goodra had left.

 _Clemont doesn't understand at all! He's just describing my situation with my pokémon at the professor's lab! What does he know about losing someone forever? How can he not realize that this could happen to anyone here? I can't believe he's trivializing my situation like this!_

Ash took a deep breath and calmed down enough to really look at his companions, surprised Bonnie hadn't chipped in at least to berate Clemont for saying something so blatantly wrong. What he saw instead was two people staring at him in disbelief, Clemont with obvious hurt in his eyes and Bonnie with a little fear. Serena, however, was returning the same intense gaze he had delivered to Clemont when he spoke, as if she was daring him to attack her verbally instead of Clemont. Ash actually shifted back a half-step as Serena slowly rose and pointed one of her delicate fingers at Ash's face from across the table.

"You need to cool off. Leave and come back when you can talk to us with the respect we deserve for trying to help you." Serena's tone was cold, and Ash could tell she was working very hard to hold back her emotions and mostly succeeding.

The boy began to realize the mistake he had made in yelling at his friend, and quickly decided to make an exit rather than risk messing things up any further. He walked away from the group's campsite, the sounds of Serena and Clemont conversing about something he was now too far away to hear clearly reaching his ears faintly as he disappeared from their views into the trees. The scampering of tiny paws reached his ears next, and he turned back to see that Pikachu was following him. Ash was sick of being forced to turn his friends away and gladly accepted his closest pokémon partner's companionship as he made his way through the forest into another small clearing with a single large tree growing out of the middle. He figured this was far enough and sat down against the tree, Pikachu hopping onto his head.

"Hey, Pikachu. Are you mad at me?" Pikachu jumped down from Ash's head and seemed to deeply contemplate the question, to the point where Ash was convinced the yellow mouse was keeping him in suspense on purpose. Finally Pikachu nodded and jumped into Ash's lap, affectionately rubbing his head into his trainer. Ash found himself smiling and began to gently stroke his first pokémon.

"Thanks, Pikachu. I know I can always count on you." As soon as he let his guard down with that statement, Pikachu let out a nasty shock that coursed painfully through Ash's body. Ash slumped to the ground and groaned, the electric type mouse unmoving from his position.

"Okay...I guess I deserved that." Pikachu nodded from its position as Ash struggled back into his seat against the tree and smiled to himself, knowing that Pikachu had actually forgiven him now. With one hurdle overcome, Ash again took up residence in his thoughts while absentmindedly petting Pikachu.

 _I shouldn't have yelled at Clemont like that. I need to apologize as soon as I see him again and try to explain myself. I guess I should have listened to Bonnie and talked to Serena first... Speaking of which, what was up with her copying my outburst? It must be my fault. She's usually so kind, sweet, cute, and here I go again._

Ash was getting better at predicting when Serena would throw his thought process off track after it had started happening so often, but it didn't make the event any less confusing or impeding to his cognition. The pokémon master in training could feel himself slipping back into his vicious cycle with the excitement of dinner ebbing away, and, keeping his mistakes in mind, resigned himself to this fate until he felt he could safely approach Serena and make this right once and for all.

Ash didn't know how much time had passed before someone came for him, but the sun was almost gone from the sky, casting only a faint line of lavender on the horizon as the brilliant full moon began to take the place of its daytime counterpart. He didn't look up when he heard someone approaching, instead waiting for the intruding party to make the first move. There was an uncomfortable pause where Ash was extremely tempted to break his own conviction.

"I'm sorry." Ash's gaze shot up as he realized that he had spoken at the same time as his visitor. Clemont looked just as surprised as Ash was, but with a much more relieved accompaniment to his countenance than the last shock Ash had delivered him that evening. Both boys realized what happened and Clemont gave Ash a small smile.

"I guess we both needed to say that to each other, huh?" Clemont offered a hand to his friend.

Ash nudged his partner awake from his slumber on Ash's lap and stood with Clemont's help as Pikachu yawned adorably before jumping onto his trainer's shoulder. "Yeah, we did. I'm sorry for snapping at you. It was wrong and rude and... there's no excuse for what I said." Ash was having a difficult time getting his words out, admitting his personal faults never really striking him as an important necessity for becoming a great battler.

Clemont simply shook his head. "You had every reason to snap at me. I've been pushing you and pushing you to try and force you to feel better. In retrospect, I'm surprised you didn't snap at me sooner. My story was...unaligned with your current problem. I understand my mistake now, thanks to the girls, and I can't apologize enough for my egregious behavior. I just...want to have my friends back together."

Seeing Clemont showing so much emotion was a bit disjointing to Ash, but he had dealt with far stranger things over the past hour, and he stepped forward, placing a reassuring hand on Clemont's shoulder. "Believe me, man, I understand. You were only trying to help. All this proves is that we both have a lot to learn when it comes to talking to people. We're always friends, no matter what, so don't ever doubt that. Bonnie told me that I have to talk to Serena about this if I want to fix things anyways."

Clemont didn't comment on that particular piece of news, but Ash could swear he saw the smallest of smirks briefly grace the inventor's face, only for it to quickly vanish into an ambiguous smile once again. "Alright then, Ash. I'll let you sort this out your way. But I want you to know that I'm here for you if you need me for anything, even if I don't really understand what you're going through."

Ash let go of the gym leader and his eyes flashed with excitement as he suddenly remembered something. "Actually, Clemont, I was wondering. I heard you mentioning that you were working on some invention for happiness-"

Clemont quickly cut Ash off, nonchalantly stating, "Oh, that? That's for something else entirely. Sadly, emotions like these can't simply be fixed by a machine, as much as I would prefer the opposite."

This response didn't make any sense to the Kanto native, but he shoved it aside for now, reluctant to put any other concerns on his plate other than his current problem. "Okay then... should we head back? I think it's time we all got some sleep."

Clemont tilted his head in confusion. "I thought you wanted to talk to Serena though."

Ash nodded. "I do. But I think that after what just happened, we all need to sleep the day's events off. I'll just apologize to them tonight, and we'll chat first thing in the morning."

This seemed to placate Clemont, and the two friends exchanged a smile before heading back to the camp. When the duo returned with Pikachu in tow, they found Serena and Bonnie standing near the girl's tent, the campsite cleaned up and the two clearly in some sort of intense discussion. Serena noticed Ash first, and quickly silenced Bonnie's mouth with her hand, much to the confusion of the guys and enragement of the young girl until she saw that their companions had returned, leading her to quiet down her protests immediately.

Ash approached a little awkwardly. "Do you two... need a minute or something?" he tentatively asked, to which Serena gave an unconvincing smile and blushed while waving her hands in front of her. "No no, we're fine here! Um, how are you? Did you and Clemont make up?"

Clemont moved to stand beside Ash and nodded along with his friend as Ash answered. "We did. I made a mistake, and I needed to apologize to both him and you two for it, so I'm sorry. I...was wrong to lash out, even given the circumstances."

Serena let out a breath of relief and gave Ash a warm smile. "That's good. I forgive you, and I'm sorry I snapped at you, I just couldn't... think of another way to get your attention."

Bonnie mimed a similar acceptance of apology while Ash suddenly frowned at Serena's apology. "Don't apologize, Serena, you did exactly what you needed to."

 _Not like she could ever make me mad at her. Dang it, brain!_

"I think it's a good idea for us all to go to bed. We've had a rough evening." Ash quickly continued to cut off Bonnie as she started to pipe up again to point out the elephant in the room. "And Serena, do you mind if we talk first thing in the morning? before we have to head out, that is." Serena had looked almost relieved when Ash had made the decision for the group to slumber, but her familiar blush quickly returned when Ash directed a question at her.

"Um, sure, no problem! I'll get up early then. Goodnight!" The performer almost sprinted into her tent. Bonnie's gaze flitted between her tent and Ash and back again before she sighed in resignation and moved to follow Serena, muttering a half-hearted goodnight over her shoulder. Clemont and Ash exchanged a confused glance, but were unwilling to discuss the girl's strange behavior when things had only just cleared up between them. Ash said goodnight to Clemont after he got changed into his sleeping outfit privately and returned his other pokémon, now fully restored thanks to Clemont, slipping into his sleeping bag in the boy's tent and allowing the sweet embrace of the unconscious overtake his body and rescue him from his troubled emotions and reality...

... a beautiful dream which Ash so badly wanted to have happen for him. Truthfully, Ash was only able to rest in short, fitful intervals, his few moments of sleep plagued by nightmares of Goodra leaving with the feeling that Serena was there, although Ash never actually saw her. He always woke up gasping, and found himself questioning if he had lost Serena somehow, if she and his friends had all vanished, just like Goodra, only to see the outline of Clemont and Pikachu's slumbering forms and force calmness back into his system. By the fifth time this happened, Ash was sick of allowing these nightmares to viciously assault him every time his eyelids shut, and he decided to go for a walk to let the natural air clean out and refresh his mind.

 _This isn't good. If I don't sleep, it's going to make things worse in the morning, but I can't sleep because of Goodra. I should have talked to Serena earlier. Oh well. I can't wake her up now._

Ash stood as quietly as possible and slipped his shoes on before stepping out of the tent, careful not to wake Clemont or disturb the girls in the adjacent tent. Pikachu, however, was a completely different story. The moon, having risen to almost its full height in the sky, perfectly illuminated Pikachu as it padded out of the boys tent, easily woken up thanks to its stronger sense of hearing and groggily looking at its trainer to ask why he had decided to go exploring at such an inconvenient hour. Ash looked down on his partner, realizing that it wouldn't listen if he told it to just go back to sleep without explanation, instead opting for a mutually beneficial solution. He began to whisper quietly to the mouse.

"Pikachu, I'm going for a walk to clear my head. Can you stay out here and send anyone back to sleep if I woke them up? I don't need them worrying about me."

Pikachu looked concerned. "Pika pika, pikachu pika," it exclaimed, waving its stubby arms around to mime the violent dangers hiding around every corner of the night.

Ash smiled and patted his friend on the head. "Don't worry, buddy, I'm bringing my poké balls with me, and I'm just going to the tree clearing where we talked to Clemont. Can I trust you with this? I promise I won't be gone long."

Pikachu still didn't seem completely satisfied with the turn of events, but gave his trainer a determined nod. "Pi, pikachu."

Ash gave his starter a grateful nod. "Thanks, buddy. I knew I could count on you." Ash walked away from camp for the third time since they arrived, albeit this time by his own decision. When he reached the tree clearing, he found himself admiring the simple beauty of the nature around him.

The tree in the center of the clearing luminescent thanks to the starlight, as if each star in the sky was an additional leaf glowing on the tree itself, stretching out into infinity as constellations danced around, forming and shattering in ever-shifting patterns as the massive, dark tree trunk at the base encapsulated the beauty of every star and held it up, just for Ash to see. He slowly approached the massive pillar of nature with far more reverence than he had shown it earlier, placing his hand on the trunk as he looked around him.

 _I bet Goodra can see the same sky right now. I hope he's okay._

Even as he worried, Ash knew that Goodra was fine. He had raised a strong pokémon that was capable of handling itself anywhere. He also knew that no amount of reassuring or worrying was going to shift his mindset to something else. He had tried thinking of just about everything else there was to take his mind off of Goodra and his sadness, but nothing held his attention long enough.

 _I haven't tried thinking about Serena. But why would I? She shows up without me even trying._

Ash suddenly realized his hand was freezing, and he ended his connection to the tree, rubbing his hand to warm it up again.

 _What is wrong with this tree? It's like an... ice tree. Yeah, because that exists. It wasn't this cold earlier..._

Ash stared at the tree for another minute before shrugging and sitting against the tree anyways, his back tingling at the chilly touch of the trunk, but not with enough bite to warrant him finding a new spot.

 _You know what? You win, mind. Let's think about Serena. Here we go. Serena is my close friend. I met her before any of my other travelling companions, well, ever in the Kanto region, when I helped her out after she hurt her knee. I met her again here in the Kalos region, although I didn't remember her at first. She's a very nice girl who makes amazing Pokepuffs and wants to take the title of Kalos queen by winning pokémon performances. Her pokémon are the fire type braixen and a fighting type pancham. She has also been very helpful in giving me the inspiration I needed when I was down to win my gym battles, and she wears a ribbon I gave her as a gift on her outfit. What else? There has to be something else. She's cute. What?!_

The word had come back once again, like a salesperson who wouldn't take no for an answer and kept knocking at your door.

 _Since when do I think anything is cute? Ever since Goodra left, it's like I've forgotten how to be me. Morning can't come soon enough. Then I can see Serena again... and talk to her! Yes, talk to her! That's why I want to see her again! Not because I think she's- nope. Not finishing that thought. I don't want to know where that was going. Argh. I think I'm going insane. Why can't I find an answer to this problem?_

Ash sighed deeply and, summoning a bit of his earlier frustration, punched the tree behind him, doing absolutely nothing to its sturdy trunk. "Help me out here, universe. I can't solve this problem myself." Ash sighed to himself as the open air appeared to receive his plea with silence, feeling a bit silly for thinking that the universe knew of or cared for his problems. He felt utterly terrified when it actually did respond.

"Would you let me try to help you, then?"


	2. Chapter 2: Burning

Words in italics indicate the inner thoughts of Serena.

Serena's POV

As Serena ran into the forest, she couldn't help but allow the tears already threatening to spill down her face to run their course. _What's the point in stopping them anymore? It's over. Everything is over. There's no point in going on with Ash on this stupid journey. Not if this is how he really feels._ Even when Serena looked up to see where she was going, she found it difficult to visualize a path through her watery eyes. The distressed damsel stumbled essentially blindly around the forest, her anger blocking any signals of pain from scratching her arms on branches or large bushes. She could still hear her name being called in the distance, and it sparked a fresh wave of enragement throughout the performer, giving her the motivation to press on through the darkened woodland. When she felt she had reached a respectable distance from her crush, she silently pulled out a poké ball containing her pancham. She released the small panda pokémon, shushing it as it tried to say its name out loud upon release. "Pancham, I need you to keep Ash from finding me. Misdirect him or something, do whatever you have to do."

Pancham looked shocked and a bit confused at the vague, somewhat treasonous instructions, but it still had every intention of trying to please its trainer. "Pancham, pancham pan!" the pokémon exclaimed as proudly as it could in a whisper, before taking off in the direction of Ash's voice, which was still hovering on the outer edge of Serena's auditory range.

Serena gave her loyal little fighting type a small smile to see it away on its mission before glancing around to make sure no one was immediately in the nearby area. This fact confirmed, she leaned back and eventually sat against the nearest tree, releasing her braixen as she sank to the grassy ground. The fire type emerged, stretched and yawned, clearly irritated by being summoned at such a late hour, only to immediately panic when it saw that its trainer was bawling against a tree. "Brai, braixen!" Braixen quickly kneeled next to its closest companion, trying to comfort its trainer without knowledge of the circumstances that caused the girl to become in such a disarray.

Serena looked up at the fire fox and smiled sadly. "I let you out because I need to talk about this, Braixen, and you're the only one who would understand me. We probably don't have much time, so listen closely." Serena spoke in a quiet whisper that forced her pokémon to lean in extremely close to even hear what she was saying.

Braixen realized the gravity of the situation and sat next to its trainer, staring intently at Serena. The girl took this as Braixen's signal to begin.

"You remember how sad Ash has been feeling about Goodra, right? Well, it turns out there was someone else that was really bringing him down..."

* * *

 **Several hours ago.**

Loss was not unfamiliar to Serena, in the way that pokémon were not unfamiliar to Ash Ketchum. If anyone were to understand the way he was feeling now as he struggled with the fact that he had given up one of his closest friends, then Serena certainly would. The anguish at never potentially seeing a friend again, the agony of pondering over what you could have done differently to stay with them, and even the small regret that snuck in and asked if it were better had you never met them in the first place were all familiar to the aspiring Kalos queen. For these reasons, Serena had decided to avoid Ash during his mourning process. It wouldn't be right of her to try and pull him away from his grieving before he felt ready to return to his jubilant self. As much as it hurt the girl to watch her longtime crush suffer so greatly, it was losing him in the first place that had taught her that Ash needed to resolve this problem on his own, despite Clemont's insistence on trying to solve the problem himself and Bonnie's evil scheme to force Serena to play heroine and save Ash from his problems. For a few days, this worked out beautifully. Serena enjoyed spending the extra time with Pikachu, caring for him in Ash's place, and as much as she would rather have the boy himself and not his best friend by her side, it was enough to know that Ash trusted her with the electric mouse and he was still conscious of the needs of those around him. It was a good start, far better than the one she had after losing Ash for the first time. Perhaps it was this sense of security she gained from how well things were progressing, seeing as how Ash had actually greeted everyone with a smile at dinner that night, that caused her to drop her guard and unintentionally allow Clemont to make the move he so desperately felt that he needed to.

"So... Ash, are you feeling any better?" Clemont's tone carried a wispy air of innocence, as if Ash's problem was a common cold rather than a crippling cheerlessness.

Serena wasn't fooled. _He's going to make an attempt at cheering him up by force. Again. I'm going to have to stop him. Again. Why can't he understand that Ash needs to do this himself? If he jus-_ Serena's thoughts were completely interrupted by the expression that had formed on Bonnie's face. The young girl had started waving her arms with her bright young eyes open as wide as they could be, pantomiming so clearly to Ash that Clemont needed to be quieted that Serena was shocked the usually vocal girl didn't just come out and express her distress. In fact, it surprised her that Bonnie apparently wanted Ash to shut their friend down as much as she did. Her face contorted into what she had to imagine was a strange expression as she considered the implications of Bonnie's actions. _She did just have a minute alone with Ash. Is it possible he opened up to her? Bonnie never seemed inclined to stop her brother before, so maybe this means Ash is finally-_ Serena found her contemplation interrupted once again, this time by Ash.

"What makes you say that, Clemont?" Ash asked, wearing a curious yet cautionary expression on his face.

Clemont began to launch into his story about his gym pokémon, a story Serena had gotten incredibly sick of hearing after the scientist had repeated it so many times while praising the magic healing power he claimed it could have on Ash. Hearing it now in front of Ash made her feel more nauseous than any previous recounting. _Why won't he listen to reason? He doesn't understand this problem like I do. This is only going to upset Ash further. Enough thinking, time to act. I have to stop him before Ash gets any worse._ Serena had finished her thought and even opened up her mouth to vocalize her intentions before Ash himself decided to end Clemont's healing process early.

"This isn't anything like that, Clemont! I have no reason to believe that I'll ever see Goodra again!" Ash yelled directly at the inventor. He had stood up to deliver his ultimatum, and the sudden swing in tone of the conversation sent a shockwave through the group.

Bonnie and Clemont were speechless. Serena, on the other hand, felt something ignite within her. She didn't think. There was no time or further reason for that. What she did do was stand up and issue her own command to the object of her attraction with all the emotion of a commander ordering a soldier to a task, thrusting a finger directly towards the boy's face. "You need to cool off. Leave and come back when you can talk to us with the respect we deserve for trying to help you," she spoke icily, restraining as much of the pent up emotion from the past few days in her voice as possible. It was becoming everything she could do to hold onto the commanding presence, yet Serena withheld her sigh of relief until she was sure Ash, who appeared lost regarding the whole turn of events despite inciting them himself, silently obeyed and had left their immediate earshot to follow her instructions.

The girl sank down slowly into her chair, allowing reason to again claim her mind. Clemont seemed even more shocked at Serena's controlled outburst than he was at Ash's violent one. "Wha- how did you..."

The flare lit up again as Serena's head snapped over to face Clemont. "I warned you, did I not? I cautioned you that something exactly like this could happen if you went ahead with this plan. Bonnie understands, don't you, Bonnie?" Serena shined the spotlight on the young girl, who was comforting her dedenne.

Bonnie looked up at the sound of her name. "Serena is right, Clemont. I wasn't totally sure until recently, but she was right about you talking to him." While Bonnie had chosen for the most part to remain impartial during the debates of action between Serena and Clemont, it was now obvious she knew more than her two older companions about Ash, and that knowledge had swayed her against her brother.

Fortunately for Serena, Clemont either didn't notice this or feel inclined to bring the point up. Instead, he simply stood and bowed his head in shame to no one in particular. "I'm so sorry, Serena, Bonnie, everyone! I really messed up. I guess I got too fixated on my hypothesis and I forgot how to, well, consider Ash's feelings and your advice. What am I supposed to do? I don't want to ruin our friendship!" Clemont began to panic slightly, ruthlessly running his hands through his hair and straightening up, only to walk around in small circles, an exercise that quickly tired him out and led to the gym leader laying down spread eagle on the grass, huffing to himself while Bonnie and Serena looked on, both amused slightly despite the situation. Serena finally let go of her frustration to console the troubled boy. "Clemont, you made a mistake. It happens to the best of us. What's important is that you don't give up on Ash or yourself until it's over. You need to apologize to him. He's certainly not the type to hold a grudge, and we aren't either. If you smooth things over now, Ash can get back to recovering normally, and the sooner that happens, the sooner we can really get back on track with our journey," Serena soothingly explained.

Bonnie nodded at Serena's advice. "Yeah, Clemont! Just apologize! That's what works when I mess one of your inventions up, isn't it?" Bonnie giggled a bit, apparently remembering what was likely numerous times where her antics had messed up a project Clemont was working on.

Clemont pushed himself into a seated position and straightened his hair out. He still appeared unsure of himself. "But... are you two sure that Ash will be ready to forgive me already?" The nervous tone Clemont's words carried reflected themselves in his eyes, darting nervously between the girls, as if he expected one of them to suddenly pounce at him the way Ash did.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "You know we're talking about Ash, right? I don't think he has the capacity to stay angry at people."

Serena would have completely agreed, had she not played witness to the boy's depression for the past few days, a side of Ash the girl had no idea even existed. She wasn't about to let that block her from pitching in. "And, even if it wasn't Ash, it's only courteous to apologize to someone for a mistake. You look like you don't care if you remain silent," the performer explained, receiving a nod in response from Clemont.

"Alright, I surrender, Serena, Bonnie. I have to fix what I've broken. Would you two mind handling the camp while I'm gone?" Clemont looked reluctant to even have to ask for a simple chore to be done for him.

Bonnie got up and sauntered over to her brother, suddenly striking as she neared him, wrapping Clemont in a tight hug. "You know we will, Clemont! Now go take care of Ash for us!" Bonnie released one of her infectious smiles to the group, quickly producing grins from her two companions.

Clemont shed a small tear, which he wiped away as it passed his glasses. "You guys... you're the best. Really. Wish me luck, okay?" The boy released himself from his sister after returning the hug, stood, and started to head off in the direction Ash had elected to take away from camp, the setting sun giving the start of his journey a picture perfect backdrop as Clemont and Serena sent their luck with him.

 _Maybe things can finally start getting back to normal around here... I think I've had quite enough strife for one week._ Serena turned to Bonnie as Clemont disappeared. "So, Bonnie? Shall we?" she asked, gesturing to the rather disheveled sight that was the group's campgrounds.

Bonnie, much to Serena's confusion, shot her closest female friend an aggravated look. "You think you're getting off that easily, Serena? You need to open up even more than Ash does." The young blonde's body started to work on clearing the table while remaining fixated on Serena's response.

Thankfully for her, Serena quickly identified what Bonnie was referring to. "I've made my position on this very clear, Bonnie. Ash needs to come to his own conclusions with Goodra. Clemont just proved that trying to interfere is only going to make things worse." Serena began to help her pseudo sister with the cleaning, and she realized that no one had actually really eaten that much, if at all, and they hadn't even released their pokémon to eat before Clemont had dived into his doomed delving of Ash's mind. _Oh well... there's always breakfast. The others will understand skipping one meal, and the sun is almost gone anyways._

Bonnie had her reply loaded long before Serena began speaking, but she wasn't about to tip her hand that easily. Years of messing with her brother had raised a highly skilled mischief maker. "You're wrong, Serena," Bonnie said, matching Serena's confidence evenly.

Serena was indignant. "How so?" she asked.

Bonnie dropped part of her façade to grin. "You're blushing."

Serena dropped the rag she held in her hand that she was using to wipe off the group's table, quickly putting a palm to her face, confirming the girl's accusation with the unusual warmth the performer found there. "S-so? That has nothing to do with Ash! I'm just... tired! Yeah, I'm tired!" It irked her sometimes how easily she blushed, but she knew any efforts to control the flushing of her face were pointless while Ash was around or even mentioned.

It was time for Bonnie to move in for the kill. "Exactly my point. You won't directly address the source of your blush in the same way that you won't directly talk to Ash. Can I ask you a question and get an honest answer, Serena?" The Lumiose native had relinquished her poker face and grin, leaving behind any hint of teasing to allow herself to taken seriously.

The sudden change in mood wasn't lost on Serena. "I... suppose so," she answered carefully.

Bonnie finished putting the last of the plates away and turned fully to face Serena, glancing around before walking over to whisper in the older girl's ear. "Do you love him?" She quickly scurried away and stood behind the dinner table, unsure of how Serena would react to such a sensitive question.

Everything froze in place for Serena. Her mind seemed to have gotten caught in its processing of information when the word love was used. The beautifully despicable word had taken a hold over the performer, leaving her unable to do anything but utter out the only other word that surfaced whenever her thoughts had turned to such a topic. "Ash..." she muttered, in a barely audible tone.

Bonnie nodded, with a bit of concern appearing in her blue eyes. "Yes... are you feeling alright, Serena? You didn't think I was talking about Clemont, did you?"

That comment was more than enough to jolt Serena from a grinding halt of feeling to full steam ahead in denial. "What? No! Absolutely not! Never! Well, I mean, he's nice and all, and the inventions he makes are useful sometimes, but I don't see him in the was I see Ash-" Serena threw a hand over her mouth to forcefully cease her flow of words, but she knew that she had let one name too many slip from her tongue.

The mistake was certainly not lost on the other member of the conversation, who began to form a positively massive grin on her face. Serena shook her head rapidly at Bonnie, but the young girl's smile only spread as she watched Serena's face approach a new world record for blushing depth. It was a long time coming, and the people weren't exactly who she envisioned when she started her mission, but Bonnie was finally ready to add successful matchmaker to her repertoire of skills, and there was no way Clemont would be able to stop her from finding him someone to take care of him with that title under her belt. "You know, I've had a sneaking suspicion for a while, Serena, but I had no idea you were this deeply in love with Ash! Come on, you know you can talk to me. Just say it."

Serena didn't see much of an alternative to confirming what both parties had already become well aware of. She took a deep breath and let years of withheld emotion have voice for the first time."Fine, then, Bonnie, you win. I love Ash Ketchum. You got me. Happy?" Serena was only slightly irritated at having to tell someone about her deepest secrets before she told Ash, but she couldn't help feeling a wave of relief wash over her after relinquishing the title of sole bearer to her inner thoughts. Saying it out loud just made the whole thing suddenly feel... real for the first time. _Am I really ready to handle telling someone? It's never felt like the right moment for this. I don't have any confirmation from him, either._

The Lumiose girl returned to the side of her friend and took Serena's hand. "You know I won't be happy until you say it to him."

Serena started, almost ripping her hand from the grip of the younger girl, were it not for the surprisingly strong hold Bonnie had on her. "No. Way. I can't do it now. Especially given his situation. That is definitely out of the question, Bonnie, and I swear if you say-"

"He loves you too, Serena!" Bonnie yelled, cutting off the performer mid-sentence.

Serena froze up again, and Bonnie quickly added onto her statement from left field. "Well, what I mean is that, um, we talked, and he was saying that he can't stop thinking about you, and I swear he's showing all of the signs of it, if that magazine I read is accurate at least..." Bonnie trailed off in deep thought, clearly trying to find the best way to present her highly scientific findings.

The performer had recovered once she realized what the base Bonnie's proposition stood on was made of, and she was not impressed. "Are you trying to get me to confess to Ash because a magazine said he might be into me?"

Bonnie huffed. "It was a good magazine! It had a bunch of pictures in it and everything! Hold on, I think I still have it..." Bonnie exclaimed as she began to dig into her satchel, releasing Serena's hand.

Serena crossed her arms, grateful to find some control in the situation. "Bonnie, there's no way I'm going to say anything to Ash right now. He needs to recover from losing Goodra before I can even start to try to bring that up to him again. And yes, I've tried the subtle path already. Don't ask."

Bonnie stopped digging in her bag and shrugged. "I don't need to. I have a good idea. Let me ask this instead: why are you so insistent that Ash recover by himself?" Bonnie wasn't certain, but she had a hunch, and love didn't get anywhere without a few good hunches.

The older girl didn't hesitate. "Because that's what worked for me. I, unlike your brother, understand what Ash is going through, losing someone like that. I found a way past it, though it took some time, and Ash can do the same if we give him time," she stated matter-of-factly.

The younger girl raised an eyebrow to Serena. "Did you get over Ash by yourself?" she asked.

Serena nodded in the affirmative, thankfully for herself missing the identity of her loss being revealed. "Of course. It was easier once I told myself to never give up until it's... over... oh no." _Did I mess up? How could I have overlooked this?_

The sagely nod from Bonnie only served to confirm Serena's trepidation. "You get it now, don't you? It was Ash that kept you going when you lost him, and now it's your turn to return the favor. Besides, that's what good couples do for each other, isn't it?"

Bonnie's final comment hit its mark, driving another wave of blush through Serena's face. That passing, Serena found herself for the first time in their conversation agreeing with a piece of advice she had been given regarding Ash. "I can't believe it, but I think I agree with you Bonnie. I...messed this up. I should have tried to console Ash sooner instead of leaving him out to fend for himself like this. He probably thinks I'm cross with him now, especially after dinner. I was only trying to help... what have I done?" The honey blond began to panic, all of her actions over the past few days now spun in a light that framed her as offensive to Ash, one of her greatest fears.

"Serena, you need to calm down. it's not your fault Ash is still upset, but I think now would be the best time to try to fix it," Bonnie carefully advised, trying to console her friend while shoving her to the desired course of action at the same time.

Serena blinked rapidly to avoid allowing a tear to stream down her cheek, calming herself into a state of cognizance. "Yeah... I don't want to see Ash like this any longer. This isn't the Ash I know, and... now I need to remind him how he helped me so he can come back himself." _And ... if what Bonnie said is really true, then maybe, just maybe... no. Now isn't the right time for this. I need to be there for Ash first, myself second._

Bonnie gave her friend a thumbs up. "Alright! You'll definitely make Ash feel better. I knew I could get you to help Ash out like this." The young girl smiled cheekily.

Serena frowned. "And why is that, exactly?" _I would hope I'm not as easy to manipulate to her as I am for her to read... wait, is that the guys?_

Ash and Clemont were returning from their mutual reconciliation, barely visible and completely unnoticed by Bonnie, who began to spout out her response. "Because you're in looov-"

Serena immediately clamped a hand over the girl's mouth when she realized what was being said, much to Bonnie's ire. She only relaxed when Serena indicated to her that the guys had returned, with it admittedly being hard to see them in the newly fallen cover of night. _Alright, Serena. If you're gonna do this, then you've got to do this. No more excuses. Ash needs help._

Ash was tentatively approaching the two girls. "Do you two... need a minute or something?" he asked.

 _He can be so cute when he's nervous. No, not now, focus!_ Serena released Bonnie and worked to put on her most convincing smile, pretending that she wasn't blushing while waving her hands in front of her. "No no, we're fine here! Um, how are you? Did you and Clemont make up?"

Clemont moved to make himself better seen by the girls, nodding along as Ash answered. "We did. I made a mistake, and I needed to apologize to both him and you two for it, so I'm sorry. I...was wrong to lash out, even given the circumstances."

Serena released a breath she didn't realize she had started holding. _At least something worked out the way it was intended to today. Now, I just need to play my part..._ "That's good. I forgive you, and I'm sorry I snapped at you. I just couldn't... think of another way to get your attention." _Why are you bringing that up now? Are you crazy? You're trying to get him to want to talk to you!_ Serena vaguely processed Bonnie saying something in the midst of her self-deprecation when the center of her attention spoke up again.

"Don't apologize, Serena, you did exactly what you needed to." Ash actually sounded genuine, and it surprised the performer a little.

 _Then again, I guess I should expect such forgiveness from him by now. He's so amazing... not now, brain. Focus on helping Ash!_

The would-be recipient of Serena's help clearly had other ideas in mind. "I think it's a good idea for us all to go to bed. We've had a rough evening."

Serena felt like a truck had just hit her. _What?! but I thought Bonnie said-_ Serena turned to the little girl, who was clearly trying to pipe up and vocalize Serena's thoughts, only for Ash to rush his words onwards and prevent her from getting the chance. "And Serena, do you mind if we talk first thing in the morning? Before we have to head out, that is."

Even though it was her intention, the idea of being alone with Ash still sent a small shiver up her spine and blossomed a new blush on her person. _I suppose I can't force him to talk now. I'll just go along with him so he doesn't get suspicious of anything... yeah, this is fine._ The avoidance of confrontation for the night brought a bit of relaxation to Serena's countenance, but she realized that she needed to go if she wanted to hold onto it before Ash changed his mind. "Um, sure, no problem! I'll get up early then. Goodnight!" The performer almost sprinted into her tent. When she got there, the girl quickly made about changing into her pajamas, barely finishing the task before Bonnie stormed into their sleeping quarters.

"What was that all about? He said he was going to talk to you tonight!" Bonnie was agitated, throwing her onesie pajamas on over her regular clothes without thinking about it, getting ready to sleep with over exaggerated movements, like an actual angry tyrantrum.

Serena simply shook her head to nobody as the two entered their sleeping bags for the night. "If there's one thing my experience has taught me, Bonnie, it's patience. Maybe it's made me a little too cautious sometimes, but if Ash wants to wait until the morning, I don't mind waiting a little longer to help him."

Bonnie had already run out of energy from the day's events, and by the time Serena finished talking, the girl was wrapped inside her sleeping bag, throwing something that could be loosely interpreted as a good night over her shoulder to her companion. Serena smiled and shut off the lantern in their tent that she thankfully had the foresight to turn on when they set up the tent, allowing her to change before Bonnie arrived. _Good night, Bonnie. Good night, Clemont, Ash. Tomorrow... I promise you that I'm going to set things right. I'm going to give you something back._

Serena slept incredibly soundly, something she had failed to do since Ash had lost Goodra. She found herself standing by her lonesome in a field of flowers. Wherever she tried to walk, the flowers suddenly tore themselves away from the peaty soil and flew into the air, far from her reach. When she walked away, the flowers returned to their position. This created the effect of a circle of petals swirling around the girl as she wandered the field. She wasn't particularly thinking of anything, or even doing anything of her own free will. Rather, the sensation of floating in bliss was all she felt. Suddenly, the entire world shook, and for a brief instant the flowers faltered in their rhythmic circling, dropping like pebbles to the ground. Serena froze. Had she done something to offend them? Why would they suddenly stop? No answer came to the girl in the time it took the petals to again begin their graceful whirlwind of activity, resuming their ritual for the performer as if they never had ceased. Serena was confused, but she let that feeling go. There was no reason to hold onto negativity when every other part of her body told her things were fine. The sudden cessation of movement happened thrice more, and Serena never seemed to find the time to consider the source of the problem before the flowers began to spin around her in such pretty colors again, enrapturing her with their serenity. The fifth time the flowers stopped dead, the other flowers still planted reacted, suddenly withering and turning to ash before her eyes. The whirlwind started again, only now the beautiful flowers had been replaced by coarse clouds of ash all around Serena, making it impossible to see in front of her. She felt herself saying something out loud, but she didn't know what it was. She advanced forward, and doing so pulled her into the dust devil, the protective circle around her gone. The last thing she saw before the dream drowned itself in ashy blackness was a single flower, unaffected by the torrent of ash around it. Serena recognized it instantly, the shock of realization jolting her awake with a gasp.

 _A dream... of course it was. Oh well. Maybe I'll see one for real one day._

"Pika pika, pikachu pika."

 _Pikachu?!_ Serena recognized the voice of Ash's favorite pokémon, and she checked her tablet to make sure she wasn't still asleep or crazy. 12:17. _Who is Pikachu talking to this late at night?_ Curiosity got the better of Serena's respect for the pokémon's privacy, and she leaned her ear to the edge of the tent to hear the identity of Pikachu's conversation partner.

"-going to the tree clearing where we talked to Clemont. Can I trust you with this? I promise I won't be gone long."

Serena jolted backwards from her tent wall like it had stung her. _I'm eavesdropping on Ash! I guess he couldn't sleep... He can't go out this late! It's dangerous to go alone! I have to go after him. He doesn't need to get himself hurt for no reason._ The conversation had ceased outside, and Serena realized she needed to hurry if she wanted to catch Ash. The girl found her red sandals and vest containing her ribbon and poké balls and put both on hastily, slowing herself to carefully exit the tent so as not to awaken Bonnie, a likely unnecessary gesture, as the young girl was sleeping like a brick. She looked around, unable to see very far in the shadowy night, but well enough to tell that Ash had already vacated the premises. "Dang it... I guess I'm going hunting for a clearing," she sighed, having no idea as to where Ash had been conversing with Clemont.

Suddenly, a small yellow mouse bounded into Serena's field of view. Pikachu looked surprised to see anyone, and it was clearly distressed at Serena's presence. "Pikachu pika pi... pi pika?"

Serena received none of Pikachu's message other than what sounded like nervousness in the pokémon's tone, so she kneeled done to meet the yellow mouse at eye level. "Pikachu... which way did Ash go? He shouldn't be out this late."

Pikachu was startled that Serena knew Ash was gone, but it wasn't about to go directly against his trainer's request. The electric type folded its arms and turned away from its friend. "Pika pika."

Serena thought for a moment. Clearly Pikachu was playing bodyguard for Ash tonight. It was just like him to try and keep them from worrying about him like that. If she hadn't heard Ash earlier, Pikachu would have likely gotten her to go back to sleep. "Do you remember what Ash and I were talking about yesterday, Pikachu? You know as well as I do that he needs our help. He isn't feeling well, and the only way he's going to get better in the morning is if he can stay awake long enough to have a conversation. I'm asking you to let me aid our friend, Pikachu. He'll listen to me. I won't tell him you let me pass on purpose, if you point me in the right direction." Serena winked mischievously to accompany her last statement.

Pikachu turned back to Serena and appeared to contemplate its options. Eventually, the prospect of returning Ash to normal came out over the need to obey Ash himself, and Pikachu pointed in the direction of the clearing. "Pi, pi pikachu pika pi."

Serena beamed at the little mouse. "Thanks, Pikachu! We won't be long, I promise." Serena started off in the direction Pikachu had pointed, as the mouse itself curled up into a ball to rest. There was no need to worry now that Serena was going to take care of Ash.

As Serena walked into the forest, she began to wonder what possessed Ash to take a stroll at this hour. _It's not the strangest thing he's done recently, to be fair. I wonder if he's having the same kind of dreams I had when I was in his position... I bet that's it. If that's the case, then it makes sense for him to take off like this. Hopefully this clearing isn't too far ahead..._ Serena's thoughts had their answer ass she came upon the clearing. The moon illuminated the tree in the clearing's center surprisingly well, allowing Serena to identify the boy sitting at the base of the tree a Ash even from the clearing's edge. _Well, not like anyone else would be hanging out around here now anyways._ Serena crossed the clearing quickly, ready to chew Ash out for wandering off and rush him to bed, when his words caused her to stop dead just a few yards away from the boy, unseen only by virtue of Ash looking down into his own thoughts.

"Help me out here, universe. I can't solve this problem by myself."

Things suddenly clicked for Serena. The setting, the greater illumination, the lost boy, and her. _Now is the time. I have to help him now. He isn't going to recover if I keep putting things off. This is the first step. Do it for him._ Serena steeled herself and spoke up. "Would you let me try to help you, then?"

Ash turned almost pale white in terror, and Serena worried she may have sent the poor boy into shock. "It's me, Ash, not the universe."

It took a minute, but Ash seemed to understand the distinction. "Oh... sorry, Serena. Didn't think anyone knew where I was. Did Pikachu not try to stop you?"

Serena thought for a minute before nodding. "Pikachu tried, but it's just as worried about you as I am, Ash. I told it that I'm going to try and bring you back, and that's what I'm here to do."

The aspiring pokémon master lowered his head. "Sorry, Serena, but I'm not ready to go back to sleep yet. I've... been having nightmares that I don't want to deal with right now."

 _Called it._ Serena walked over and took a seat next to Ash against the tree the boy was planted next to. "I'm not talking about bringing you back to camp. I'm talking about bringing back the Ash everyone knows and... really admires, if you'll let me try." Serena's voice grew quieter as she spoke, nerves creeping around her confidence and threatening to shut her down. _I can't falter here._

Ash looked at Serena, then at the night sky, then back to Serena. Her hair shone in the moonlight. "Well, I guess it is morning, isn't it?" he asked, rubbing his nose nervously.

Serena giggled lightly. "Yes, I suppose it is. I don't think we'll benefit anyone by putting this off any longer."

The boy put his focus directly on the girl's eyes, ready to gauge a reaction. "Here goes, then, Serena. Let me ask you something. Do you really understand what it means to lose something?" His stare burned directly into Serena.

A deep breath was released from the performer. It was time to start playing with fire. "Ash, when I was younger... a lot younger, that is, I lost something. I didn't quite understand how important it was until it disappeared from my life, but then again, I think that's part of what fulfills the requirement for something to be truly special to you. In any case, I was distraught beyond belief when I lost this thing. I stopped talking to my mother, I wouldn't play with my toys, and I even stopped eating for a day. All I could think about was how I had let that thing enter my life, permanently alter it, and then waltz out as if its act was a routine. I so desperately wanted to see and regain what I had lost, but I knew in my heart the odds were slim to none of ever being graced with such a fortune from fate. There was only one thing that kept me going back then, that inspired me to soldier on and eventually get over the devastation of that loss, even though it felt like I should have been able to get over the problem with the aid of time alone." Serena paused for dramatic effect and to see if Ash was comprehending her message.

Ash hadn't even blinked. "What was it? What kept you going?" He inquired softly, gently biding Serena continue.

The blush on Serena's face was getting a head start on appearing before Serena could even begin to answer her crush. "Well, you see Ash, I was able to keep going because of something that something said to me when we met. He told me something that I've held very close to my heart, a double-edged sword in that it helped me so many times while reminding me of how far away the source of the advice was. He said... to never give up until it's over." Serena ran out of air. _That's it. There's no other way he can interpret that._

Ash turned away from Serena, his gaze roaming, as if there were someone else who had provided Serena with that quote hiding under the cover of shadow. "So... you're saying... that I should have been following my own advice the whole time..." Ash began to chuckle to himself, slowly building up to a full laugh that sent echoes throughout the clearing. He quieted and returned his gaze to Serena. "Yeah, you understand, and you're right. I really should have followed my own advice. But that's not the point, is it, Serena?"

Serena had legitimately worried that Ash had missed her reveal of the identity of who she lost, but his return from laughter alleviated that fear. "Um... yeah. I guess you could say that. Do you really understand what I'm trying to say?" The performer blushed as she finished that sentence. _Please Ash, if you have any weakness in your density, now would be the best time ever to take advantage of it._

Ash put a hand on his chin contemplatively. "Did it really break you up that much when we parted ways for the first time?"

Serena nodded quietly. _Please. For me. For us._

Ash realized she was still expecting an answer and continued. "Do you think about me as much as I find myself thinking of you recently?"

Serena's heart jumped three beats ahead. _YES YES YES YES._ "Yes, Ash. If I really show up in your mind as hard as you try to think of something else, without warning, and without rhyme or reason, then we think of each other in equal amounts," she whispered, inching closer to the boy.

The pokémon master in training nodded, almost to himself. "Alright then. I think I understand now. You lost me when we were young, and the advice I gave you is what helped you, well, recover from me, and even then it left me stuck in your mind. Man, saying that out loud sounds weird. Oh well. Anyways, I lost Goodra, and as long as I don't give up on the idea that I'll see him again, then I can move on from that, even though I'm going to randomly start thinking of you. Is that right?"

Serena was dumbfounded. _How did he manage to put that in the least romantic way possible? Maybe I need to try again._ "That may all be true, Ash, but aren't you curious at all as to why you're thinking of me?"

The boy nodded empathetically. "Of course! Are you saying that you can explain that too?"

The girl realized she needed to choose her next words very carefully. "I honestly can't explain it for you, Ash, but I know why you're always on my mind, and it has everything to do with who you are. You're kind, funny, brave, talented, and confident, and those are just a few of the things that I... admire about you. You make me feel stronger just by being around me, and I feel like I can accomplish anything when I'm around you. It's the kind of feeling you get around people that you see as... more than a friend."

Ash froze. The two were incredibly close now, their faces merely a few inches from each other. "Well you're definitely much more than a friend to me, Serena! I would still be trying to get my first gym badge if it wasn't for you, and I've accomplished so many things here in the Kalos region thanks to you. You are the best friend I have Serena."

Serena's heart literally shattered at that. _I guess he really doesn't feel the way I hoped he did..._ "That's it then? Your best friend? Is that what I am to you?" she asked, her voice wavering violently.

Ash tilted his head. "Yeah. Is that a problem or something?"

Serena pulled herself away from Ash and turned to face the forest around them, standing up. "That's it then. I guess we're done here," she stated emotionlessly, all energy of the moment having burned up her passion in the worst way possible.

Ash frowned and also rose, confused at Serena's sudden mood change. "Something's wrong, Serena. Tell me."

Serena whipped around to face Ash. "You should know! I just poured my heart out to you and you called me your best friend!" she rebuked angrily.

"Whoa, what? Who gets mad at a guy because he called her his best friend?" Ash asked, taking a half-step back from the rage radiating from Serena's body.

It didn't matter if he knew anymore. _Nothing matters if he doesn't feel the same way._ "A girl who's in love with you, you dense dolt!" Serena yelled, causing a flock of murkrow to fly out of a nearby tree, squawking angrily as they flew away. Serena let her words hang in the air for a moment before she slowly pulled her blue ribbon out of her vest pocket. The girl dropped the gift from Ash on the ground, turned, and bolted for the woods, leaving one pokémon trainer speechless behind her.


	3. Chapter 3: Scorched

Italics indicate the inner thoughts of Ash/Serena

Ash's POV

There was nothing running through Ash Ketchum's mind as he stood there, dumbfounded. Serena's form disappeared into the forest and the boy continued to stare as if she were still standing right in front of him, still getting angry at him, still admitting that she was... in love with him. It was as if the pokémon trainer had become stuck in the moment that Serena had dropped her bombshell on him, and now he was frozen in the blast that had wiped out all time around him. The callous wind picked up a bit, and the ribbon Serena had let fall to the ground before making her exit was lifted off of the ground, twirling aimlessly around while steadily rising at the same time. It took the breeze blowing the blue gift right in front of Ash's face to convince him to finally react, and he snatched the ribbon out of the air, staring at it curiously. "Serena dropped her ribbon..." he muttered to himself.

 _Why would she do that? She likes this ribbon._ Ash scrutinized the article of clothing carefully. There was nothing apparently wrong with it other than being immaculately clean, which wasn't unusual for any of Serena's belongings. _So why did she let it go like that? Does it have something to do with me? I must have said something wrong to her, just like with Clemont. That makes sense. I should apologize and return her ribbon to her. Man, I hate making her upset. Where did she even go? Oh right, the forest. Duh._ Ash shoved the ribbon into his pocket and took off into the woods after his companion, calling out her name in the process. "Serena! Serena!" The shouts echoed unanswered into the night as Ash forged ahead towards where he assumed Serena had disappeared to.

 _She's not responding. Wait, does that mean she's in trouble?! I need to hurry up!_ "Serena! Answer me, please! SERENA!" Ash put all the power he could muster into his final shout, to no avail.

The forest remained as frustratingly silent as ever. _No... this can't be happening. I can't lose Serena like I lost Goodra. No way._ Ash pulled out a poké ball and opened it, releasing his frogadier onto a nearby tree branch. The loyal frog appeared ready for action, despite being summoned in the dead of night. "Alright, Frogadier. I need you to track down Serena for me. It's too dark for Fletchinder to search for her from the air. If you find her, bring her back to camp and then come find me. Got it?"

The water type nodded. "Frog." With that, it sprung into action, covering at least twice the distance Ash could run in the same time by hopping from tree to tree.

Lack of speed never inhibited Ash in the past, however, and he did his best to follow his pokémon through the thick undergrowth. _At least Frogadier can help out now if Serena's in danger. She has to be okay. I can't forgive myself if she gets hurt. She's... too important to me. Wait, hold on a second._ Ash stopped short, his body obeying the command he gave his mind. _Didn't she say something like that before she ran off? No, that's not right. I think... it was something about how she was...in... love..._ All the breath in Ash's body suddenly deserted him as the moment of Serena's confession returned from being frozen in time, rushing into him with a force that physically siphoned the energy in his body, causing the boy to lean hard against a tree, gasping as reality struck him. He was chasing after someone who was in love with him. He had hurt Serena, and she was running away from him because of it. Of all things, Ash recognized the usually nonexistent grip of fear creep up and take hold of him in that moment. _I didn't just say something wrong... I broke her heart. Serena poured her feelings out to me and I completely shut her down. Now I'm going to lose her, just like Goodra._ "What is wrong with you!" The trainer's self-deprecating shout flew wildly into the air, ultimately petering out into the gargantuan body of stars above him.

Ash felt a bit of strength return to him, and he immediately put all of it into punching the very tree he was leaning against. The bark barely reacted, unfazed by the rage fueled attack. Ash began to rant to himself. "You can't even understand yourself, and now you've let Serena down because of it. If you put half as much effort into making your companions feel like you cared as you did into battling, maybe you wouldn't have lost her!" Ash relinquished his dependence on the tree he had assaulted, and allowed the frustration of his speech to spill into his thoughts as he paced around in aimless aggravation.

 _If only I had some idea of how to fix this mess. Go over the facts. I'm upset because I lost Goodra, but at this point I should have gotten over it. Serena tried to help. She confessed and I missed the meaning, making her upset. Serena is in love with me. What am I? I'm... Serena... losing Goodra... losing...love._ Ash couldn't have shot up straighter if he had been struck with Pikachu's most powerful thunderbolt. "That's it..." he muttered almost inaudibly. "Yes, that's it!" he called out again, loud enough to be received by the open sky above him this time.

Nothing aside from starting his journey with pokémon had ever felt so clear, so unequivocally right to the pokémon trainer, and he threw his hands up in an expression of his unabashed joy that could only come with an epiphany of such massive magnitude. _Why didn't I make this connection before? My mind was trying to show me something. I guess I just don't use it enough to listen. But... this doesn't matter at all if I don't make up for my stupid density earlier. Enough thinking. I've had enough of that for a lifetime. There's only one path left for me to take._ Ash did a quick check of himself to make sure he was really able to continue, and again began his sprint through the night-laden woods. He tried calling out Serena's name a few more times, more for Frogadier's benefit so that it knew he was still following behind the frog than to try and get Serena to respond. If her emotions took any sort of similar form to the way Ash had been feeling the past few days, then there was very little chance of him being able to do anything but speak directly to her to elicit a response. As Ash continued his voyage through the sea of foliage, the tall grass in front of him started to rustle violently. That could only mean one thing, and Ash skidded to a halt, drawing his two remaining poké balls to deal with whatever wild pokémon he had likely disturbed with his yelling. The violent rustling ceased as a pancham wearing red sunglasses burst forth from the commotion, waving its paws around wildly. "Pancham pancham pancham cham!" it exclaimed in a hurried panic.

Ash immediately returned his poké balls to his pocket upon recognizing the playful pokémon, the sunglasses identifying it as Serena's pancham. "Pancham? What's wrong? Is Serena in trouble?"

Pancham nodded overenthusiastically. "Pan, pancham!" The tiny panda pointed in a direction to Ash's left that led into a more densely packed neck of the woods.

While Ash was a bit suspicious of Pancham's sudden appearance, there was no way he could ignore such an obvious cry for help, especially if it meant helping out Serena. "Okay, Pancham. Lead the way to Serena!"

The fighting type jumped for joy into the air, and it took off as soon as it landed in the direction it had pointed out previously, navigating the path with relative ease. Ash sighed. _So much for lack of speed not being a problem._ He started off after Serena's pokémon, doing his absolute best to keep up amid the dangerously twisted tree roots and snagging bushes threatening to trip him up. Pancham was clearly remembering its previous forest home as it travelled, the little pokémon dodging all the dangers Ash had to focus on to even barely avoid with no trouble at all. _I guess it also helps that Pancham is way smaller than I am._ The two made their way deeper into the woods, eventually coming out into another clearing that contained a field of purple, blue and white flowers, this one much smaller than the one that held the tree where Serena had confessed to Ash. Pancham paused and looked around. "Pancham... pancham pan..." it muttered to itself.

Ash caught up and paused to catch his breath, grateful for the stamina his extensive travels had provided him with. "What now, Pancham? Is this where you left Serena?"

Pancham shot up straight, as if Ash had caught it doing something naughty. The pokémon turned and shook its head rapidly in denial, pointing to the tree line across from the clearing. "Pancham!"

The pokémon trainer was getting extremely suspicious now, but it wasn't like he had any better idea himself of where Serena had gone. "Alright then. We don't have any time to waste, Pancham. Let's get moving!" Ash broke into a run in the direction Pancham had pointed, forcing the playful pokémon to sprint to overtake the human it was supposed to be leading.

As Pancham passed Ash again, the trainer slowed down a bit to prevent himself from taking an unnecessary tumble on anything. What he didn't expect to witness was Pancham slowing down as well. _Does Pancham even know where we're going anymore?_ Pancham wasn't doing a good job of convincing Ash otherwise, making far more turns and deviations from the course that the two had started on than before. When the small panda stopped completely and looked around in seeming complete confusion, Ash decided to act on his skepticism, walking up to the pokémon and kneeling down to its level. "Hey, Pancham, are you sure you know where we're going? If you don't that's okay, but I need to know so I have a better idea of where to look for Serena." Ash kept his tone soothing so as not to upset his guide, but it appeared to be working poorly.

Pancham was a bundle of nerves, fidgeting from side to side as it considered Ash's statement. The look of guilt was clearly evident in the small pokémon's eyes, and Ash was prepared to simply asses himself as the new leader of their search party when Pancham came to a decision of its own. "Pancham PAN!" it yelled as it launched an arm thrust directly at its trainer's closest friend's head.

The shock of the sudden assault robbed Ash of any chance to react or defend himself, and the trainer was thrown backwards onto the ground by the force of the attack, his mind still not fully processing the betrayal. Pancham reacted quickly, searching the boy's pockets for something. The pokémon looked frustrated at being unable to find whatever it was looking for, but it noticed Ash was getting over the shock of being attacked and quickly stole whatever it had its paw currently on, which happened to be Serena's ribbon. "Pancham?" It tilted its head at the seeming impossibility of the object being with Ash, but an angry moan from the boy convinced Pancham to make its exit.

Ash's thoughts finally recovered from the sudden treachery, and he sat up to see the pancham disappear back into the forest, Serena's ribbon dangling in its grasp. "Wha- Pancham! What was that for!? Get back here! Give that back!" Ash sprang up and sprinted after his assailant.

It was as if the pokémon had become wild once again, stealing things from random people and hoarding them for itself to use as performance props, but this was no ordinary object, and Pancham's target wasn't some random traveler. Ash grimaced to himself and forced his body to work overtime to keep Pancham in sight, fueled by anger and the desire to recover Serena's ribbon. _Why would Pancham just attack me like that? At least arm thrust didn't hurt that much... Was it holding back? Then why attack in the first place!? And why take the ribbon over my pokémon? Man, what is it with Serena and her pokémon getting mad at me today?!_ Ash slowly began to gain ground on his target, much to its chagrin. Both parties suddenly burst out of the trees and back into the small flower clearing, giving Ash the chance he needed. "Hawlucha, Fletchinder, stop Pancham!" Ash called out as he released his two flying type pokémon, both of them immediately using the advantage of flight (or gliding) to get around and surround the thief.

Both of Ash's pokémon were a bit startled that their opponent was one of Serena's pokémon, but they gave no indication of letting the little panda escape. Pancham looked around in an ever so slight panic before turning back to the trainer it had just attacked, putting on a brave face of defiance. Ash decided to give friendliness one more shot. "Listen, Pancham. I don't know why you attacked me, but it's really not a big deal. Just give me that ribbon back, and we'll figure out what to do next, okay?"

Pancham responded by tying the ribbon crudely to its sunglasses and pointing a paw with all the menace it could muster at the trainer. "Pancham."

Ash sighed. He should have known that the proud pokémon was going to make him battle for the ribbon. "Fine, then. Fletchinder, stay there and don't let Pancham run away again. Hawlucha, you're gonna battle Pancham for me."

Hawlucha performed a spectacular leap over its opponent and landed beside its trainer, posing proudly as Fletchinder took off and circled low overhead, ready to swoop in if Pancham tried to ditch the fight. The trainer leaned down to whisper to his pokémon. "Listen, Hawlucha. We're just trying to get that ribbon back. Don't hurt Pancham badly if you can afford it. Remember, Pancham is a performer, not a battler." Ash knew that Hawlucha wasn't the type to hold back in a battle, but he couldn't risk putting Fletchinder up against Pancham's stone edge and its double super effectiveness, not when he might still need both pokémon to help out Serena.

Hawlucha didn't look happy, but it nodded and struck another pose, eager for the thrill of battle, however much it was supposed to hold back. "Hawlucha!"

Pancham took this as a signal to start the battle and fired a dark pulse directly at the flying and fighting type. Ash scrambled away from his pokémon and gave a command. "Dodge that, Hawlucha!"

Hawlucha leaped impressively into the air, easily dodging its foe's attack. Pancham quickly responded by firing another dark pulse into the air at Hawlucha. Ash realized he needed to get in close if he wanted to end this battle quickly, and he wouldn't be able to simply jump over dark pulse. "Hawlucha, take the dark pulse with flying press and get in closer!"

Hawlucha did its signature pose in the air and used flying press, landing directly on the dark pulse. The move and pokémon seemed to hang in the air for a moment before the force of the more powerful Hawlucha's move began to force the dark pulse away, the wrestling pokémon slowly approaching its foe using its favored tactic of taking attacks head on. Pancham realized it was being beaten and ended the dark pulse, scampering away before Hawlucha could land on it. Hawlucha followed its trainer's second order and began to run at Pancham, the little pokémon quickly spinning around to throw an arm thrust at its pursuer. Ash was ready for the attack. "Okay, Hawlucha, counter that arm thrust with karate chop!"

Ash's pokémon obeyed, bringing a glowing arm down to meet Pancham's attack head on once again. The two fighters quickly began to exchange blows with each other, occasionally getting in a solid hit but taking one just as quickly. Despite not having much battle experience, Pancham was doing a decent job of keeping up with Hawlucha, although it was becoming apparent which pokémon's stamina was going to win out by the way Pancham was beginning to slow down and Hawlucha was landing more strikes than its foe was. Ash decided it was time to wrap things up before either side got too much damage. "Alright, Hawlucha, finish it with high jump kick!"

Hawlucha, having completely forgotten about Ash's earlier instructions before the battle started, took an arm thrust in order to launch a high jump kick as soon as Pancham was prone from the attack, sending the playful pokémon flying into a nearby tree, not unconscious but certainly unable to continue battling. Hawlucha struck a victory pose. "Haw, Hawlucha!"

Ash sighed. It was his mistake for telling Hawlucha to hold back on any attack. The boy congratulated his pokémon and carefully walked over to Pancham, still struggling to get up after taking such a powerful high jump kick to the gut. He leaned down and carefully untangled Serena's ribbon from her pokémon's shades before returning the glasses to the pokémon's head. "Pancham... are you alright? I didn't want Hawlucha to hit you that hard."

Hawlucha overheard this and bowed its head in shame. Pancham took this as a challenge and quickly tried to stand up to prove it was okay, only to swoon and collapse again, grunting in repressed agony. Ash looked between the two and sighed. _This isn't good. Pancham needs healing and I can't leave Serena to fend for herself out here._ "Hawlucha, you did fine, don't worry. And you need to knock it off Pancham. You're too weak to move around right now. I'm going to have Fletchinder take you back to camp. No arguments."

Pancham was mortified at being defeated so easily and ashamed for failing in its mission from Serena. It decided to try one last-ditch move. "Pancham. Pancham pancham pan!" it exclaimed, pointing in a direction that it knew Serena definitely wasn't in.

Ash had become wise to Pancham's plan at this point. "Pancham, did Serena tell you to keep me away from her?"

The pokémon gasped. How had Ash figured that out? It turned its gaze away from the inquiry. "Pan..."

That confirmed Ash's suspicions. "Alright. It's not your fault Pancham. You were just doing what you were told, but I need to talk to Serena right now, whether she wants to see me or not. I hope you can understand that."

The panda tilted its head in confusion. Ash smiled sadly. _I guess the answer to that is no. Sorry, Pancham. I'll make it up to you later._ Ash waved to his fletchinder, and the bird swooped down, landing next to its trainer. "Fletchinder, I need you to take Pancham back to camp for me. Get Clemont to take care of it. Can you make it back to camp from here?"

Fletchinder responded by taking off and soaring high into the sky, surveying the landscape before returning and nodding affirmatively. "Fletchinder."

The boy smiled. "Good. Stay at camp when you get there and help out the siblings if they need anything." With that, Ash carefully placed Pancham on Fletchinder's back, coaxing the little panda to hold onto the bird for safety before allowing his fire and flying type to take off into the night.

As he saw the pair off, Ash again turned his attention to his task. _Oh man, Pancham really threw me off. There's no way I can catch up to Frogadier and Serena if I don't even know where I am!_ Surveying the landscape, it struck the boy just how serene the area looked, despite being the site of a battle not a few minutes ago. _Serene... that's a new word for me. It suits this place though. Serena would like it. Oh, I know!_ Ash bent down and plucked several of the bell-shaped flowers in the field from their roots. He realized that he couldn't just put the beauty products of nature in his pocket, so he opted to tie them together with Serena's ribbon, showing off only slightly more skill at knotting than Pancham had exhibited. Hawlucha was staring at its trainer in disbelief during the entire process, and Ash just gave his pokémon a sheepish smile. "Trust me, this is new to me as well, Hawlucha. Right now, though, we need to focus on finding Serena again. Ready to go?"

Hawlucha shook itself out of its stupor and pumped a fist in the air. "Lucha!"

It refreshed Ash to see his pokémon as energetic as ever, and he was about to pick a random direction to start off in, new gift in hand, when a blue sphere shot up above the tree line and caught his and his pokémon's eye. The pokémon attack soared into the twilight before exploding in a shower of heavy water droplets, only to be immediately followed by a bright stream of fire that could only be a flamethrower attack. Ash put the pieces together. "That must be Frogadier and Braixen. I bet Frogadier found Serena! Come on, Hawlucha! They must need our help!" Ash ran in the direction of the water pulse attack, Hawlucha trailing closely behind its trainer.

 _No more detours. This time, I'm going to find Serena, and I'm going to explain everything the way I should have the first time._ Ash's thoughts gave him the confidence to push forward, stampeding a path though the forest as opposed to his more careful approach following Pancham. The water and fire attacks hadn't been launched from too far away, so as long as he hurried, he had to be in time to catch up to Serena. Roughly five minutes of straight running finally allowed Ash to see his blue frog once again. Frogadier was leaning against a tree, breathing a bit heavily with a few scratches but otherwise seeming to be alright. Braixen was also present, fretting over Frogadier in some sort of a state of agitation. When the two pokémon noticed the trainer and Hawlucha emerge from the foliage, Braixen immediately ran up to Ash and pointed to Frogadier frantically. "Braixen brai!"

Ash was baffled. "Braixen? Frogadier looks fine. Are you alright, Frogadier?"

The water type simply nodded, remaining completely silent. Ash was convinced until the pokémon flinched and dropped to one knee, in a moment of weakness allowing the telltale purple blush to appear on its face. _Frogadier has been poisoned._ Ash shoved the flowers that he had taken such great care to avoid damaging during his run haphazardly into Hawlucha's hands before rushing over to Frogadier. "Frogadier, why didn't you tell me? Of all the times I decide to go out without any healing items! You're going to have to wait while I get some antidote for you." Even as he said the words, Ash knew he didn't have that kind of time.

Frogadier had clearly been fighting the poison for a while now, and by the time he figured out how to get to camp and back, frogadier would probably need to see nurse Joy to recover. The blue frog seemed to understand this as well, and it tried to stand up, surprisingly succeeding. "Frogadier frog frog!" it spoke defiantly.

Braixen leapt into action, running back to frogadier and forcing it to lean back against the tree again until it was sitting against the oak. "Braixen brai!"

Frogadier looked annoyed but didn't attempt to get up again. As bad as things were, even someone as dense as Ash couldn't ignore the sudden chemistry between the two. In context, it was almost like him and... _Serena!_ "Wait, Braixen, where's Serena!?"

* * *

Serena's POV

"...and now I'm here." Serena finished pouring her heart out for the second time in one night, this time to her starter pokémon instead of her crush.

It wounded her all the more deeply to have to recreate the events that had just transpired in her own words, but at the same time she felt as if she had to relay the information to someone, the task of bearing the story herself too daunting to even consider. Braixen had listened intently throughout Serena's story, only tearing its gaze away from its trainer when it heard Ash calling Serena's name in the distance, a noise Serena herself did her best to ignore. She had chosen a decent hiding place, with trees peppering the immediate area around her and impeding any chance of someone successfully approaching without the sound of leaves crunching giving them away. The only way anyone would be able to see them would be if they came extremely close to where the two were located, as the wide trunks of the trees hid both pokémon and trainer from any passerby. Serena sighed. "I don't know what to do anymore, Braixen. If I just abandon him here and try to continue performing myself, I'm bound to run into him at some point knowing my luck... but I can't let you and Pancham down... oh Ash..." Her rapidly lowering voice broke off at the boy's name, not for the first time since beginning her story, and her face, only just dried from the last session of despairing sobs, were again moistened by the performer's tears.

Braixen did its best to calm the performer down again, but Serena, her story out and in the open, no longer felt inhibited by all the confines that came with holding the failed confession secret. _It all happened and it's all out in the open and it's all over now. I can't stay on my journey anymore. I should have just stayed home._ Battering herself with negativity only encouraged Serena to delve deeper into her own sorrows, and Braixen started to panic at the sheer level of distress it was feeling out of the girl curled up against a tree with her head tucked into her knees. "Braixen, brai brai braixen brai!" it cried, exclaiming anything it could to get its trainer's attention away from her sorrows.

Serena looked up at her starter, and was touched by the concern she saw. It didn't fix anything, but it helped knowing she had her pokémon on her side. "Braixen... thank you for listening to me. Ash is, well, was... no, IS everything to me. Do you have any idea how hard it is to have someone like that shut down your feelings without even noticing them, over and over again?!" Serena could feel despair creeping up on her again, and suppressed it for the sake of preventing her pokémon from worrying.

The question caught Braixen off guard, and it quickly shook its head in denial. "Brai braixen!" it practically shouted, like it had forgotten to lower its voice from the previous statement.

Serena was momentarily distracted from her own troubles because of her pokémon's unorthodox response. "Wait a second... don't tell me you have a crush too, Braixen, do you?"

Braixen wasn't about to admit anything of that magnitude on a whim, despite the red coloring appearing on its cheeks. "Braixen. Braixen braixen." it spoke, crossing its arms in a huff.

Clearly Braixen wasn't willing to talk, and Serena didn't want to play Bonnie after learning first hand how embarrassing it was to be on the receiving end of such interrogation. "Alright, Braixen. I won't pry, but know that you can talk to me. I trust you, and I hope you can trust me too." She allowed the topic to drop, and Braixen breathed a sigh of relief and muttered something that loosely could be interpreted as a thank you as her thoughts again turned towards her next step, every option laid out in front of her worse than the last.

 _What am I supposed to do in a situation like this? What would Ash do? Probably forget the whole thing even happened. But I can't do that. I don't have his annoying, frustrating, infuriating density..._ Serena became lost in her own thoughts, and a sudden silence descended over the two like an eye in a storm. Even Ash's requests for Serena's presence had ceased, and some dim part of the girl's consciousness wondered if he was alright, while the pessimistic side of her just assumed he had given up on her thanks to Pancham. The dead silence was becoming eerie, and Braixen moved closer to its trainer, half for comfort, half to keep her safe as the setting made its dangerous nature as a home for wild pokémon more apparent. Braixen's ears suddenly twitched, and it turned away from Serena, gazing at some point in the trees. "Braixen..." it muttered, causing Serena to return her attention back to her pokémon.

"Braixen, what's wrong? Is something there?" Serena squinted at the point her pokémon had become fixated on and saw nothing but the methodical sway of the forest leaves in the wind. "Um... I don't think-" The statement was cut off by Braixen launching a hidden power directly at the spot it had stared at before, the blue light ball of energy colliding with what appeared to be nothing but tree branches in a decently sized explosion.

Nothing happened for a second, and Serena was about to scold the fire type for potentially giving away their location when a form shot out of the black smoke caused by the move, performing several flips in the air before landing in front of the duo. Serena immediately recognized the intruder as Ash's frogadier, and scrambled to stand up and put her hands on her hips in an authoritative manner. "F-frogadier!? What are you doing here!? Did Ash tell you to spy on me?"

The water type completely ignored Serena, further aggravating her, instead facing the girl's Braixen with some irritation in its countenance. "Frogadier. Frog frogadier?" it asked.

Braixen walked over to its fellow Kalos starter and slapped it across the face, not gently. "Braixen braixen braixen brai! Brai braixen braixen BRAI!" Its voice rose with each repetition of its name, and Frogadier looked more caught off guard that it was being yelled at than from the pain of Braixen's attack.

"Frogadier frog frog. Frog." Frogadier sounded like it was trying to justify itself, although Serena was having a difficult time following the conversation.

"Braixen brai! Braixen braixen!" Braixen pointed at Serena and then at Frogadier, leaving its trainer even more baffled than she was before.

 _What in the world are they talking about? I guess Braixen is telling Frogadier off for following us... but why a slap to the face? These two aren't like Pancham and Chespin, they don't fight all the time or anything... unless... wait, why does it even matter? I need to get out of here before Frogadier summons Ash!_ Serena stepped between the two arguing pokémon and forced them to step away from each other. "Alright, you two. I don't know what's going on, and I don't have time to find out. Braixen, we're going. Frogadier, go tell Ash to stop looking for us." Serena turned away from the frog and nodded to Braixen, indicating that they take their leave.

Braixen shot Frogadier one more nasty look and moved to follow its trainer. Frogadier again ignored Serena's words and jumped over the two, landing in front of their intended path and spreading its arms out defensively. "Frogadier. Frog frogadier." It pointed in the general direction back the way the three had come from, towards the campsite.

Serena got a bit nervous. If Frogadier didn't let them go, there might not be much she could do about it. As fierce a fighter as she knew Braixen could be, it would at the least struggle greatly to overpower the consistently battle-trained and water type Frogadier. _I can't face him again. Not now. It would just make things worse._ Serena resorted to diplomacy. "Frogadier, please. I don't know how much you've overheard, but I can't face your trainer right now. I'm... not sure if I ever can. I messed up, Frogadier, and now everything is ruined beyond the point of fixing. It would be best for everyone, even you, if you just let me go. I'll pick up my things later." Serena did her best to sound convincing, but her voice refused to stop trembling at the implications of her statement.

The world Serena had built for herself was crumbling around her, and now Frogadier was standing steadfast in her path, forcing her to bear witness to the destruction of the hopes and dreams she had intitiated. Braixen realized that Frogadier wasn't moved by Serena's plea and stepped forward aggressively, ready to back up its trainer's words with action, when Frogadier suddenly rushed forward, directly at Serena, the blade from its cut attack drawn. The girl hardly had time to process that she was being attacked before the frog rushed past her, striking its target. Serena waited for what she expected to be sharp, tearing pain from such a fast and powerful move, but felt nothing. She turned around slowly to see a beedrill unconscious on the ground behind her, Frogadier standing over it nonchalantly. _How did I not notice a beedrill approaching from behind!? Am I really that distracted right now?_ "Oh... I thought..." Serena's started and stammered apology was interrupted by the appearance of three more beedrill from the bushes near where Frogadier had appeared, clearly awoken from the hidden power attack that Braixen had fired and searching for their unwanted alarm clock.

Ash's pokémon wasted no movement and leapt at the three assailants, another cut brandished in its webbed hand. Two of the beedrill met Frogadier head on with their fury attacks, the three pokémon becoming a dangerously dazzling display of daggers dancing in the darkness, while the third and largest beedrill made a beeline for Serena. Braixen stepped in front of its trainer protectively, and Serena realized that she was now in a battle. "Alright then, Braixen, use flamethrower on that beedrill!"

Braixen obeyed, launching a red hot stream of fire at the bee, causing it to quickly cease its charge and get out of the way. "Don't let up, Braixen! Keep firing until you hit it!" As bad as starting a forest fire may be, the vicious nature of beedrill that Serena had heard tales of from both Ash and her own mother convinced the girl to avoid holding back.

"Braixen!" the pokémon cried out as it began to launch several more blazing red streams at the beedrill, each shot being dodged almost effortlessly.

Serena was panicked. Braixen just didn't have the speed necessary to connect with the super effective attack. _I have to hit it now!_ "Braixen, get it with a scratch!"

Braixen ended its flamethrower assault and ran at its foe with a scratch attack at the ready, causing the beedrill to respond by rushing towards the fire type with a poison jab move on its needle hands. As the two rapidly prepared to clash, Serena too late realized her mistake of allowing the beedrill to close the distance in the fight and hurriedly attempted to stop her pokémon before it was hurt. "Wait, Brai-" Serena stopped midsentence as she witnessed the beedrill suddenly jerk to the side as it was slammed by one of its own kind, Frogadier having taken a poison jab of its own during the fight to hurl one of its opponents between Braixen and the third beedrill.

It shocked Serena that Ash's pokémon was able to track the moves of not only the two beedrill actively attacking it, but also the exact moment when she gave an inappropriate battle command to intervene in the second battle that had begun around it. _Even Ash's pokémon are amazing... No, focus! You have to win this battle!_ Serena opened her mouth to give a command to her fire type when Frogadier suddenly sprinted over to Braixen and quickly muttered something to the pokémon that was incomprehensible to Serena. While the frog had taken a decent amount of damage from the fight, it was still standing proud, and the two beedrill it was fighting looked no better off than Frogadier was. Braixen nodded to Frogadier before taking its own initiative and launching a hidden power directly at the beedrill it was fighting, still struggling to get the beedrill that frogadier had thrown at it off of it. Frogadier waited patiently, and as soon as the beedrill successfully untangled themselves and started to take off again, Frogadier used double team to surround the beedrill, confusing them into stopping long enough for the hidden power to connect, slamming both beedrill into a tree. The other beedrill Frogadier was fighting was enraged, and began to rush at the Frogadier clones, swinging its sharp arms wildly, eliminating random clone after random clone. One Frogadier clone waved at both Braixen and beedrill, and both got the message. The beedrill charged at the clone, causing the copy to disappear and beedrill's arm to become stuck in the frubbles the ninja frog had left behind. The beedrill didn't even have time to try and struggle free before it received a face full of Braixen's flamethrower.

The performer was awestruck. Here was two pokémon battling together like they had been practicing for years, when in fact one of them hardly battled at all, and certainly not with the kind of synchronization the two were displaying. _It must be Frogadier giving Braixen the confidence. Just like what Ash did to me... Braixen doesn't even need me to command it now._ Serena was thinking the truth, as a menacing approach from the tag team of Braixen and Frogadier convinced all three beedrill to make their escape, one of them carrying the beedrill Frogadier had felled with a single cut earlier on its back. Braixen cheered and jumped up and down in satisfaction, while Frogadier merely smirked, only to grimace as the poison that had infected the frog when it took an attack to rescue Braixen racked its body, forcing the water type to take a knee. Braixen realized its partner was in danger and immediately stopped its jovial behavior, helping Frogadier up and leading it over to tree so that it had a solid base to lean on. A sigh escaped Serena's lips. _I can't leave now. Not with Frogadier like this._ Serena moved quickly to the pair, looking over the two pokémon. Braixen appeared to be mostly fine, but Frogadier was another story. The minor physical injuries weren't that bad, but the poison would become extremely problematic if it wasn't handled quickly and efficiently. "Okay. We can't leave you like this Frogadier. I'm going to run back to camp and find an antidote. I can pick up my stuff while I'm there. Braixen, stay here with Frogadier and keep it safe. Do NOT let Ash know where you are. I'll be back as soon as I can. Got it?" Serena paused to breathe while her pokémon kept most of its attention centered on its new patient.

"Braixen." It threw its name out carelessly, not really listening, while Frogadier remained as reticent as ever, attempting to bear the pain of the poison by itself, although the battle had weakened its defenses heavily.

Serena didn't wait to make sure her pokémon really understood. _I have to be there for Ash's pokémon, even if he won't be there for me anymore._ Her hesitation forgotten, Serena sprinted with all the force her legs would allow her towards the direction of camp, mentally recording her path so she could make her way back. She was shocked when she realized she hadn't actually ran that far away from the clearing where she had confessed to Ash, and she skirted the site cautiously as the route she needed to take became more certain with the landmark reached. A few minutes of Serena's fastest pace allowed her to reach the campground once again, but she stopped short when she realized it was active, taking cover in the edge of the tree line. Clemont, in his nightgown, was fixated by something, probably an invention, while Bonnie was pacing back and forth with Ash's fletchinder, of all pokémon, circling low over the girl's head. Pikachu was laying by a small campfire the group must have lit with Fletchinder's help. Serena tried to get closer to view whatever Clemont was working on, only to be spotted in the light of the campfire by Bonnie, who immediately charged the older girl. The performer tried to wave awkwardly at her friend before Bonnie tackled her in a bear hug, the two tumbling to the ground. "SERENA! You're alright! We were so worried! Where's Ash?" Bonnie rushed her words out, clearly as a result of pent up worry.

Serena awkwardly returned the hug from the ground and waited until she could untangle herself from the Lumiose girl before responding. "I'm fine, Bonnie... why wouldn't I be?" She ignored the question that had been asked. _Probably still wandering around with..._

Bonnie spoke up through Serena's thoughts. "But... Pancham..."

"What!?" Serena quickly stood and dashed over to Clemont, her blue eyes filling with horror at seeing her little fighting type pokémon sprawled out on the ground in front of the young scientist.

Clemont's eyes were hidden behind his glasses shining in the firelight, and he gave no indication that he even knew Serena was there until he spoke up while monitoring his patient. "Hello Serena. Pancham will be fine, it's just exhausted from battling and needs to rest. I'm more curious as to what happened. Would you care to explain?" There was a hint of agitation in the boy's voice, but Serena was still getting over the fact that she had allowed one of her pokémon to become injured and hadn't been there to help it.

"Oh, Pancham... I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have sent you away like that... this is all my fault." Serena wanted to summon tears for her playful pokémon, but she had sent them all out for Ash already as well.

At the sound of its trainer's voice, Pancham opened its eyes and sat up a bit to gaze at Serena, throwing a weak smile and thumbs up the girl's way before collapsing again. Clemont sighed. "You need to lie still, Pancham. We've been over this. You won't feel the effects of the medicine I gave you without rest. Serena, my question, if you don't mind."

"Oh, um, right. I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk, and I let Pancham out to get some fresh air, and I lost track of it, and I figured it would eventually make its way back to camp, so I headed back, and I found, well, this." Serena lied rapidly and sloppily, completely unwilling to run the gauntlet of emotions that was the true happenings of the night.

Bonnie approached the two from behind. "Even Clemont wouldn't believe that story, Serena. We know you must have been out there with Ash at some point. Tell us what happened, please."

 _They're worried. What would they say if I told them what I was about to do? Would they try to stop me? Probably. I guess I only have one choice then._ "I... can't talk about it. I'm sorry, I just don't want to revisit tonight already. Not now. I need an antidote."

Clemont, who nodded to himself as Serena spoke, dug into his bag and tossed up an antidote without even looking up, meaning Serena had to practically dive to retrieve it before the bottle landed on the ground. "Thanks. Now, I'm kind of in a hurry, so I'll just grab my things and be off, alright?"

Bonnie couldn't believe that Serena was leaving again, and worse, Clemont didn't seem to know or care. She turned to her brother to force him to make Serena stay, only for Clemont to suddenly stare hard at his sister. "Let her go, Bonnie."

That was the last straw for the young girl. "WHAT!? But something bad is obviously happening! We need to-"

"-stay here." Clemont finished for his sister. "I know as much as you do, Bonnie, but I can't leave Pancham here by itself, and you've already admitted that this is something that Serena and Ash need to work out by themselves, so I'm not going to mess things up any further. As much as science would try to tell me otherwise, this matter clearly has no algorithm that will solve it with us involved." The matter-of-fact tone suited Clemont, but the subject matter he was covering certainly didn't.

Serena stopped in gathering her things to give Clemont a rueful stare. _We tried to work it out. We failed. And now people and pokémon are hurt as a result._ Clemont wasn't done with his serendipitous advice, as he swung his powerful firelight gaze to Serena, shattering the disdainful look he was receiving from the older girl. "And you. I can only hypothesize that something you tried isn't working for you. I know Ash didn't teach you to give up at the first failure, or the second, or the eight hundred second, because that's something he showed me. I implore you to consider that before you finish packing."

Where Clemont had received this level of transcending sage knowledge completely evaded Serena's imagination. _I don't know if I can give him another chance after what happened though... he's made his feelings so clear. I have to come back for Pancham anyways... I guess I can try one more time, even if it's going to tear me apart inside, as long as it's for him. He deserves that courtesy at least, and he owes me an explanation for Pancham anyways._ She finally set her pack down and shoved the antidote in her pocket. "Okay then. Thank you for taking care of Pancham, Clemont. Bonnie, I'll be fine, Ash and I will be back shortly. Please don't worry. I just need to give Frogadier this antidote and everything will be fine." _If only the world worked that way._

While Bonnie was by no means satisfied with the outcome, she realized that following Serena by herself wouldn't benefit anyone. "You... you better come back with Ash, you hear me, Serena!?" the trembling girl demanded.

Serena merely nodded. Clemont returned to his tending to Pancham. Pikachu, a silent observer to the situation, suddenly hopped onto Serena's shoulder, clearly done with being the one left at camp. The girl wanted to leave Ash's closest companion behind for what was sure to be an extremely difficult meeting, but the rodent was nestled so securely onto her shoulder that Serena didn't have the heart to shut down another one of her friends tonight. With a small wave, Serena again began to sprint off into the trees to give aid to Ash's frogadier. _Here I am running to save one of Ash's pokémon when he might have knocked out one of mine. What is wrong with me?_ The thought didn't connect with Serena's legs as they sped up their stride, not letting her musings interfere with her true emotions. Clemont called out something about sending him Frogadier when she got the chance, and Bonnie stared at the back of Serena's head as she again disappeared into the woods, again chasing down her crush, for one more confrontation.

 _If he doesn't reciprocate this time... then I can't keep hurting myself here any longer, and I'm sorry I don't have the willpower to stay, Bonnie, Clemont, everyone. I failed, and this is all my fault, Pancham and Frogadier getting hurt, Ash still being depressed, everything. This is me trying one more time to fix things, not giving up one more time before it's all... over._


	4. Chapter 4: Aloe

Ash's POV

"Wait, Braixen, where's Serena!?" Even as he asked the question, Ash already realized what the answer would be.

Braixen pointed to the forest and started to speak its name, but Ash held a hand up to stop the fire type. "Did she go to get an antidote?"

Ash thought Braixen released what looked like a sigh of relief before nodding emphatically, likely grateful that it didn't have to explain its trainer's whereabouts. "Braixen brai."

It made sense to Ash. _Serena wouldn't leave any pokémon out here like this if she could do something about it. I guess that means the plan is to stay here to see her and get the antidote in one move._ The pokémon trainer smiled at Serena's starter. "Then I guess I'll just wait here for her here then. Oh, and by the way, thanks for using those moves in the air, you two. I would have been searching forever if it wasn't for your signal."

Frogadier nodded solemnly to its trainer, while Braixen avoided Ash's gaze and refused to acknowledge the praise. This reaction confused the boy. _Did Braixen not send that signal on purpose? But Frogadier certainly did... was Braixen just trying to keep me away from Serena like Pancham was?_ Braixen had seemingly finished its business with Ash and had returned to tending to Frogadier, with all the attention of a real nurse Joy. Ash frowned and joined the fire type in looking over Frogadier, the water type getting uncomfortable with all the attention it was getting. Ash, for once, didn't take the hint from his pokémon's subtle body language. As much as it annoyed his water type, this was the only way that Ash was going to get Braixen's full attention. The situation Ash intentionally intensified finally spilled over when Braixen turned to the boy beside it and spoke with barely controlled tranquility. "Braixen... braixen braixen."

 _Alright, let's get this over with before Serena returns._ "Braixen, did you signal Hawlucha and I on purpose?" Ash maintained an innocent tone that failed to match the air around him, especially when Braixen froze up at the question.

Ash waited expectantly for a response of affirmation or denial, but he received uncharacteristically large amount of nothing from Braixen, the starter just staring at Ash, as if it had never heard the question in the first place. Frogadier seemed to be getting sick of the entire process and muttered to the fire type as loud as it could through the suffocating poison. "Frog... frogadier frog!"

Braixen turned to Ash's pokémon and tilted its head in contemplation. The tension between the three hung in the air for an incredibly lengthy moment before Braixen sighed and nodded to Ash in affirmation, not making a sound. A breath of relief left Ash's mouth, confusing Braixen. "Braixen, I appreciate the honesty. I'm not mad at you, and I'll say the same thing that I said to Pancham to you: I need to speak to Serena right now, whether she wants to speak to me or not. Does that make sense to you?"

The fire type glanced over at Frogadier for a split second before agreeing with its head, again wordlessly. This startled Ash even more than the sudden silence that had infected the area. _That was easy. Hmm... maybe Braixen really is more fond of Frogadier than I realized. I suppose I'm not the only one starting to understand what these feelings are..._ The boy gave the fire type a genuinely warm smile and thanks before the two returned to fussing over Frogadier, much to the disappointment of the frog, still too weak to resist. Hawlucha realized it had nothing to do and began to practice its victory poses. After thoroughly checking on his pokémon, Ash realized the only thing he could do for Frogadier at this point was to give it space to rest, as returning it would prevent him from being able to monitor his pokémon. He tried to relay this information to Braixen, with little effect. Surrendering full Frogadier nurse duty again to Braixen while mumbling his condolences to the frog, Ash gave the two some space, wandering over to a nearby tree halfway between Hawlucha and the starter duo and leaning against it. While Ash wanted to practice what he was going to say to Serena in order to avoid another massive mishap, at the same time it felt inappropriate to him. _If I'm going to do this correctly, it has to come out raw, from my heart, not my head. Just like a pokémon battle. Yeah, exactly like a pokémon battle. Man, I love pokémon battles..._ Ash's mind began to escape him, entering a reality in which he was a pokémon master and had beaten every league in existence. He was just about to receive a special medal for becoming the best trainer in the world with Serena at his side, cheering for his greatest achievement, when a real battle suddenly began to break out in front of him.

Daydreaming had robbed Ash of his senses, but when he came to, Hawlucha and Braixen were facing each other angrily, Braixen brandishing its branch menacingly while Hawlucha was guarding the flowers Ash only just now remembered handing the wrestling pokémon close to its chest, bristling with indignation. The whole situation made Ash think he was still fantasizing about battling and thee two pokémon in front of him had just decided to enact his thoughts for him. This idea completely disappeared when Frogadier suddenly yelled at its trainer directly. "Frog frogadier!"

The urgency in his pokémon's voice convinced Ash that he wasn't in fact projecting his dream onto reality. He stepped forward and began to open his mouth to tell off both pokémon when Braixen struck. Ash expected Hawlucha to receive a face full of flamethrower, but the fox pokémon instead lunged at its foe directly. Ash barely had time to process how strange that battle strategy was before Hawlucha reacted equally as peculiar, shying away from the assault and attempting to defend itself by turning away from the attacker without countering. _Is this a battle? Then what the heck are they doing? If you're gonna battle, then bat- oh, wait. The flowers!_ Things clicked into place as the two struggled. Ash had never actually told Hawlucha what the flowers were for, and Braixen must have seen the ribbon, thought Hawlucha had stolen the gift, and was now trying to retrieve it for its trainer. _But if they keep going on like this..._ "Hey, stop it you two!"

The warning found voice a split second too late as Braixen managed to get a paw on the flowers, causing Hawlucha to panic and drop to the ground, sending its foe somersaulting over its head. Ash reached the two as Braixen managed to stand up, only enraged at the unplanned trip, while Hawlucha remained in its fetal position on the grassy terrain. The boy forced himself in between Braixen and Hawlucha before the fox could pounce again. "Braixen, enough! The flowers are for Serena! Hawlucha didn't steal anything!" Ash felt the adrenaline rush through his system as Braixen appeared ready to charge at him for interrupting before the meaning of the words began to sink in.

"Brai... Braixen. Braixen." The fox pokémon blinked several times and came to its senses, bowing formally in apology to Hawlucha.

It concerned Ash that Hawlucha still refused to budge from its position despite the threat clearly being resolved, even when Braixen apologized. "Hey, Hawlucha? Are you alright? You can stand up now." Something about this night was clearly causing all of his pokémon to behave as paradoxical to their normal selves as possible, and between Frogadier's acceptance of being fussed over and Hawlucha's timid battling style, Ash wondered if he had somehow walked into the mirror world from Reflection Cave at some point by mistake.

Hawlucha looked up, a sheepish expression on its face, and it slowly rose, thankfully appearing to be physically okay. What had failed to survive, however, was the bundle of flowers Hawlucha had been tasked with guarding, crushed under the bulk of the wrestler. Hawlucha started to stutter apologies, but Ash didn't hear anything. He carefully bent down and extracted Serena's ribbon, thankfully intact in spite of the impact. The blue article of clothing was carefully inspected and wiped clean of flower juice by Ash before he stood up again and, after reassuring Hawlucha that everything was okay and that it wasn't a big mistake, turned and presented the ribbon formally to Braixen. "Here, Braixen. I clearly can't do a good job of keeping this safe, and it belongs to your trainer, so why don't you hold onto it for her?"

"Or you could just return it to its owner, you know."

Every nerve on Ash's spine tingled, and he spun around to see Serena standing there, one hand on her hip, the other clutching a small bottle that had to be the antidote she had left to get. A fine layer of sweat decorated the girl's brow, and her honey blond hair glistened with the few stray droplets of perspiration clinging to both it and the moonlight from the sky. In short, Serena made Ash take notice of her, in a way he was only just coming around to seeing her. The girl held out her free hand expectantly. "We don't exactly have all night, Ash."

Ash's mind worked overtime to reactivate, and he forced himself to overcome his mixed emotions to place the ribbon in the open palm of its rightful owner. "Right, uh, sorry. You just startled me, Serena. I guess that's the second time tonight, huh?" _What kind of an introduction is that!?_

Serena seemingly sympathized with Ash's sentiments. "I don't intend to make a habit of it. I'm here to heal Frogadier." The beautiful performer turned away and paced over to the frog, carefully applying the antidote, Frogadier sighing in pleasure as the poison finally began the process of being expelled from its system.

Ash found his eyes glued to the girl in front of him. As revolutionary as his revelation was, there was nothing that prepared him for the unique amalgamation of emotions his mind experienced as his gaze remained fixed on the savior of his pokémon. _She's never been so... cold to anyone before. It's entirely justified, but it doesn't make the sting hurt any less. How did I manage to reject Serena? She's even caring for my pokémon when she's already furious with me. She's so kind, caring, pretty... Wait. I can't lose myself in my thoughts here. Focus! I have to show her what I've discovered._ A minute of healing later, Serena rose, Frogadier thankfully managing to stand up along with the girl. Only when Pikachu hopped from Serena's shoulder to Ash's did he realize his closest partner was even there in the first place. Ash started when the yellow pokémon suddenly rejoined its trainer, almost sending the electric rodent flying off of his shoulder, but caught himself quickly enough to avoid such an accident. "Pika pi!"

"Sorry, buddy. Didn't realize you were there. I got distracted," he apologized hastily to the yellow mouse. _Pikachu just looked so... natural on her shoulder. Is that even possible? I guess he looks normal on my shoulder to everyone else..._

"That seems to be a running theme with you tonight," Serena remarked icily, staring directly at Ash with blue fire in her eyes, a stark contrast to the tear lines that decorated her cheeks from when the performer must have been crying earlier.

Ash winced. "Alright, I suppose I deserved that." _I did this to her. I have to fix this._

Serena nodded. "You deserve worse than that, but I don't have it in me to give it to you. Braixen, stop that." The girl paused to tell off her starter for drawing its branch in Ash's general direction when she mentioned the boy deserving worse.

Grateful to not be burned, Ash decided to handle the immediate problem first. "Sooo... is Frogadier alright?"

Serena appeared to be holding back a biting remark, instead opting for a simple nod. She failed to halt her pokémon's reaction at this news, and Braixen rushed forward, gripping the water type in a tight hug that it ended just as quickly as it started when it realized that every person and pokémon in the area was staring at it, Frogadier included. Ash saw the problem and decided to throw his frog pokémon a line. "Frogadier, if you're feeling up to it, why don't you and Braixen look around the area a bit for more wild pokémon that might have been bothered by our noise? I don't want anyone to get attacked again."

If any signs of weakness still remained in Frogadier's countenance, they were dropped immediately. "Frog!" It stood proudly, Braixen at its side, and quickly took its leave into the forest, silently joining hands with its companion when it thought Ash couldn't see it anymore.

The gesture brought a smile to Ash's face, and he turned to deal with his last remaining Kalos pokémon. "Alright, then, Hawlucha. You need to head back to camp and let Clemont know that Frogadier and the rest of us are fine and that we'll be back soon. The camp shouldn't be too far from here. Can you handle that?"

Hawlucha saluted proudly and sprinted off into the forest in the opposite direction of camp. Serena sighed in exasperation. "Hawlucha, the camp is the other way!" she yelled after the receding form of the wrestling pokémon.

Seconds of silence passed before the red blur of Hawlucha returned just long enough to be seen taking off in the opposite direction, the word Hawlucha in the form of a thank you being echoed through the woods as it passed. Even Serena failed to maintain her stoic composure at Hawlucha's inane behavior, just as Ash hoped. _Now's your chance. You have to get in the door while it's open!_ Serena spoke as Ash opened his mouth to perform the same action. "You know Hawlucha isn't going to be able to explain anything like that to Clemont, don't you?" She asked, some of the sparkling and refreshing lightness of her normal voice penetrating her current tone.

Ash leapt on his chance. "Yeah, but it was the only way that I could convince him to leave, and I need to talk to you again. Alone." The seriousness Ash normally reserved for intense pokémon battles was coming out, and Ash realized this was one battle he truly couldn't afford to lose.

Serena nodded to Ash's closest partner. "What about Pikachu, then? Why is he allowed in chats between friends if Hawlucha isn't?"

That one hit hard, and Ash winced a bit. He didn't even have to glance at his pokémon partner to respond, however. "Pikachu is half asleep by now. He can't sleep well if I'm not around, and he knows I'm not about to go to bed anytime soon, so this is the compromise."

The look of shock that Serena revealed at the level of understanding Ash had for his partner was evident, but she quickly hid it, again raising the iron curtain of unfeeling over her expression. "Alright then, you've got me here. Talk."

Ash swallowed his pride in a massive gulp. There was no way through to his goal other than brutal honesty. "Serena... I messed up. Badly. I didn't understand what you meant-"

"How is that even possible!? I made my feelings as clear as I possibly could for you and you turned your back to me! I spent so much of my life waiting, hoping, praying for a chance to see you again, and when you couldn't remember me, I wanted to give up. But I didn't, because you taught me not to. When you missed hint after blatantly obvious hint, I wanted to give up. But I didn't, because the boy who was playing with my heart was encouraging me to keep going, to keep trying. And when you called me your best friend... I couldn't hold on any longer... everything I had been working towards was... was..." Serena's enraged interruption began to waver and peter out, the girl's head slowly shifting downwards as tears began to fall again from her big blue eyes.

When Serena started to cry again, Ash swooped forward quickly to try and put a comforting arm around her, only to have it thrown off by the distraught performer. "Serena..." Ash murmured to the girl in the small space between them.

Serena was in no mood to hear her crush out. "No, Ash. I've had enough of your help. I'm realizing what a stupid idea this was. I'm sorry for even trying. I just want to leave quietly." Ash couldn't see Serena's face, but he knew the performer didn't really mean her words by the uncontrollable regret that seeped into her tone.

There was no more reason to leave things up in the air. Ash gently placed a hand on Serena's chin, lifting her head up to meet his own. She didn't throw him off this time, either because she didn't mind or lacked the necessary energy to care. Her eyes were drowning in their own sorrows, any flame that had burned in them completely extinguished, and Ash brushed away the bitter tears with his other hand. "If you really want to leave Serena, then I won't stop you. But I would like to show you something first. Is that alright?"

Serena gazed deeply into Ash's eyes, and for a moment he was genuinely terrified that the performer was going to reject his offer before she responded. "Yes, that's fine," she uttered in a quiet and weak tone.

Ash silently celebrated and removed his hand, indicating his companion follow him as he turned abruptly and trekked off into the woods. He didn't steal a glimpse back, but he knew that Serena was following him by the sound of her steps on the leaves scattered throughout the forest floor. The two continued in complete silence for several eternal minutes before Serena felt the need to speak up. "Ash, where are we going? What's so important that we have to go somewhere else to talk about it?"

The pokémon master in training threw a glance back at Serena before he carefully formulated his answer. "I realized something after you ran away, Serena. Something I feel needs to be seen to be understood. Not sure if that makes sense, but trust me, you'll love this."

The performer apparently accepted this answer and quietude again descended upon the pair as Ash struggled to recall the correct path from the small wooded grove where he had found an injured frogadier not so long ago, despite it feeling like days in the past. It certainly took longer than his trip in the reverse direction, but Ash eventually reached the clearing of flowers where Pancham and he had battled. Serena stepped out into the open air and gasped, he eyes now shining brightly with wonder instead of sorrow at the sight of the flowers. She slowly bent down and touched one, like she couldn't quite believe that it was real. She glanced from the boy to the flower to the boy again. "Ash... do you know what these are?"

Ash nodded jovially. "Yup! They're flowers! I saw them and immediately thought of you. I tried to bring some for you but Hawlucha crushed them, so I thought I'd just bring you here. Do you like them?" Ash inquired.

Serena didn't respond immediately, instead continuing to gently stroke the flower in front of her. "Never thought I'd ever actually see them for real..." she whispered almost silently.

The boy didn't quite catch what Serena was saying, but he decided it was best to move on to his point anyways. "Well... I also brought you here because I wanted to explain myself in a more appropriate scene. Like I said, I realized something, once I came to terms with what you said to me. I thought really hard about what it is to, well, be in love with someone, and I started thinking about the things I love. I love my pokémon. They're my family. That's one reason it hurt so badly that Goodra left, but at the same time, I'm grateful, because losing Goodra stirred something in me. I felt real fear, not directly over losing Goodra, but because the thought of losing Goodra made me afraid of losing... someone else."

Serena looked up straight at Ash while he spoke. Her eyes were gradually widening, as if she was visually having trouble comprehending the reality of the moment. Ash forged ahead. "I finally understood that I was afraid of losing you, Serena. My mind made a connection between you and a feeling I normally only reserve for my pokémon, and now I think I fully comprehend what that means. I brought you here, to a place that reminded me so much of you, so serene and beautiful, because I wanted to both tell you and show you that... I love you, and-" Ash was interrupted in the climax of his speech as the girl he was confessing to suddenly tackled him in a hug, sending both of them careening into the field of flowers and rudely sending an awakened Pikachu flying off towards the edge of the clearing.

A dim part of Ash's mind warned him that Pikachu wasn't going to take the sudden assault lightly, but almost every other part of him was completely focused on the gorgeous girl holding him tightly. Right now, all that really mattered was that he was next to the girl he had taught himself how to love. He returned the hug to the best of his ability given the two's position next to each other in the flowers. "I... didn't finish my sentence," he stammered awkwardly.

Serena looked at Ash and smiled the warmest smile the boy had ever seen. "You didn't have to. I got the message loud and clear. Ash... this place... it means more to me than you know that you brought me here, and... I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm so overjoyed that you feel the same way I do. You have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear you say those words."

Ash grinned. _I think I did it right! She isn't mad anymore!_ "So... are we still... you know..."

Serena suddenly released Ash and shoved him off of her, the boy rolling on the ground a few feet away before scrambling up to face the girl again. "No, Ash, we aren't friends anymore." She sat up in the field of flowers and delicately picked one, wafting the fragrance to her nose dreamily as Ash matched her position across from her in complete confusion.

"But... Serena... I understand now... I love you. You said you love me. I'm sorry about what I said before, about Pancham, about everything! What do I have to do to prove myself?" Ash's tone grew more desperate as he spoke. He had come this far, and there was no way he was going to lose Serena here again. _I can't give up until it's over!_

The performer simply unveiled a sly grin before leaning in close to Ash and whispering in his ear. "We aren't friends anymore, Ash Ketchum, and we never will be again. From here on in, you're my boyfriend." The unfamiliar word passed Serena's lips and entered Ash's mind for the first time.

 _Boyfriend. Boyfriend?_ "Ummm... what the heck does that mean?" Ash was completely confused at the addition of his gender to the title of friend.

Serena pulled away to stare at Ash, evident shock on her face. "You're kidding, right?"

Ash tilted his head to the side. "No. Am I missing something obvious here? Again, that is."

The girl sighed heavily. "I guess I should have seen this coming, but I guess I figured that even you would understand... you know what, never mind that. Alright Ash, listen carefully. When people are in a relationship, they call each other boyfriend and girlfriend, and everyone only has either one or no boyfriend or girlfriend. You said you are in love with me, and you already know I'm in love with you, so that means that you're my boyfriend and I'm your girlfriend. Does that make sense?"

The instructive nature of her speech made Ash think she had actually rehearsed this lecture for just such an occasion that Ash didn't understand her. "That... makes sense, I guess. So now we're like best friends, but... closer? Is that right? And did you practice this?"

"I've had plenty of time to get ready for this moment..." Serena muttered, almost to herself, before speaking up again, "Yes, that's close enough for now. It's love, not a contract. Oh, it doesn't really matter anyways. What matters is that we're happy, and I'm happiest when I'm around you."

That description made sense to the aspiring pokémon master. "And I'm happiest when I'm around you, Serena! It's, uh, not something I understood for a while, but when I really thought about it, it just made so much sense! You helped me out so much on my journey, lifting me up when I felt down, supporting me no matter what, and I was so excited for you when you finally found a dream to pursue... that's another reason the reality of Goodra's departure shocked me so much. I haven't given a second thought to my future beyond the Kalos league, and now I realize that I can't do that. Not when another coincidence could be the difference between us staying together and separating. I was scared for the past few days, Serena, because for once I've met someone who I don't think I can bear to see go their own way without me."

Serena had given Ash her full attention, and the boy had to try hard to stay focused. _How am I going to ever directly talk to her when she won't stop being so... so...cute... ugh! There are worse things to have to get used to, I guess._ The girl realized her crush had concluded his little monolgue, and proceeded to commence one of her own, placing a fair yet firm hand on her new boyfriend's shoulder. "Get one thing straight right now, Ketchum. I'm not going anywhere anymore. Even when you broke my heart I wasn't sure if I had it in me to leave you, so I certainly don't have any intention of departing now. No, I'm going to keep being there for you, because you've given that strength to me tenfold and more. I mentioned this already, but you're the reason I eventually stopped giving up on so many things, difficult as it was in some cases. I wouldn't be where I am without you, on a journey with my pokémon, Clemont and Bonnie, all of whom I've grown so close to, and have also been inspired by in different ways. They aren't you, but they do an amazing job impressing me every day, and I strive to improve myself as a person to follow all of your examples. Sometimes... when I wasn't in a good place, um, mentally, I wondered if the reason you never noticed me is because... I just wasn't good enough for you." Serena's voice broke a bit at the memory, the pain of the past clearly not sitting well with her, the warm aura she had given off ever since Ash had finally confessed fading a bit.

That was what got Ash to react. "Serena, any failure in the past to get my attention has been one hundred percent a result of my own stupid density. You are an amazing person with a kind heart, and that's more important to me than anything else. I don't want you to doubt yourself anymore, because I'm certainly not going to doubt myself about this anymore."

As Serena opened her mouth to respond, a certain yellow mouse that happened to be extremely enraged at being rudely awoken burst through the flowers into the very small space between the new couple, bristling angrily. "Pika pi!" it exclaimed in a battle cry.

Ash panicked a bit. There were three things he simply avoided doing to Pikachu, as close as the two were. One of those things was to try to take ketchup away from it, another was try to return it to its poké ball, and the final thing was to interrupt his partner's sleep. None of these things happened often, if ever, and that was for a good reason. He prepared for the inevitable pain of electricity to course though his body, but Serena spoke up before his starter could attack, releasing Ash to give the new visitor her full attention. "Pikachu, would you mind not shocking my boyfriend please?" Serena spoke in a surprisingly airy and carefree tone given the circumstance, but nevertheless, the fresh new word unleashed its full power on another victim as Pikachu stopped short of firing its dangerous electricity to turn to Serena in bewilderment.

The moment hung in time briefly before Pikachu lowered its guard completely. "Pika," it stated simply, before padding over to Serena and allowing the girl to nuzzle it lovingly.

Pikachu's trainer would have been less shocked if the pokémon had actually shocked him. "But I've never... how did you..."

Serena giggled at Ash's loss of speech. "You'd be surprised how far asking nicely for something can go, Ash. Speaking of which, I never asked you what happened to my Pancham. Would you kindly explain?"

Ash wasn't looking forward to this part of their conversation. _I guess I need to clear this up anyways._ "Yeah, okay. You know you sent Pancham to distract me... and when it ran out of places to lead me, it jumped me and stole your ribbon. I had to battle it right here to get it back, actually, and Hawlucha accidentally got carried away and almost knocked out Pancham. I'm sorry... I really didn't want Pancham to get hurt, and I would have cared for it myself if I had the necessary medicine and wasn't in the middle of trying to find you." Ash put every ounce of genuine regret that he could into his words, and it clearly had an effect on Serena.

The girl took in the story quietly. "Well, I didn't want Pancham to hurt you like that, and I'm sorry it caused you so much trouble. It's partially my fault it got hurt in the first place. You said you fought Pancham here?" She pointed directly at the ground they sat upon, the dead seriousness on her face causing Ash to chuckle.

"Well, not this exact spot, but this was the clearing, yes." _Why does that even matter?_

"... the ash..." The words from Serena was almost inaudible, and Ash leaned in closer to properly hear the girl.

"Excuse me? Did you say something Serena?" Ash inquired.

Serena looked like she didn't intend to respond, and was even in the process of shaking her head in denial, but she clearly thought better of it at the last second. "Do you know what these flowers are Ash? No, few people do. They're called angelonia, or, more specifically, serena angelonia. I've never seen one before in real life, though my mother showed me a picture of them more times than I care to count. Something about fate or destiny or something like that. The picture just shows them decorating one of her ryhorn racing award ceremony pedestals. The only reason I remember them is because they keep appearing periodically in my dreams."

The backstory was mildly interesting, but Ash didn't get the point. "So... you're excited to finally see your namesake in real life?" he presumed carefully.

The girl chuckled. "I wasn't named after them, silly! It's just a coincidence. My mom didn't learn their name until after I was born. No, it just now struck me as interesting that, in my dreams, I can never get close to the flowers because, well, they become covered in... ash." She put a bit of theatrics into her last word, waving her hands like a magician performing a trick.

It took some thinking, but Ash got it. "Oh. So, ash hid the flowers, but Ash brought them to you! I get it now!"

Serena smiled. "Yeah. I guess my mind was trying to tell me something, too. Well, that or my mom is a psychic for driving that flower so particularly into my head once she found out its name..." Serena trailed off as Ash suddenly had another thought.

"Oh man, what are our mothers going to say about all of this? She still thinks I need help with... actually never mind that." Ash quickly backpedalled, almost embarrassing himself in front of his new girlfriend, only for her eyes to light up with mischief in the wake of his Freudian slip.

"What were you about to say, Ash? Come on, you can tell me." Her words were reassuring, but Serena's teasing tone told Ash it would be a bad idea to respond honestly, even though he knew deep down that she wouldn't do anything to embarrass him. In public.

"Uhhh... hey, we're in a relationship now, huh? Isn't that something?" Ash scratched the back of his head nervously, even more so as he realized that Serena wasn't getting distracted.

Serena didn't, however, push Ash further. Instead, she turned to Pikachu, gently scratching it differently to get its attention. "Hey, Pikachu, you know Ash's mom, right? Would you happen to know-"

Ash cut the girl off before Pikachu could even think about responding. "No no no no no. No. We are not doing this right now. Or ever. Never works for me." Flustering as the past several hours had been, Ash was firm in his stance on this one. _She can never meet my mother. I'll never hear the end of it._

A smile played on Serena's lips. "Alright, alright. Maybe some other time, Pikachu." The yellow mouse was indifferent, returning to its relaxed rest position quietly.

Ash took note of this. "Well, I think it may be time we headed back to camp. Clemont and Bonnie are waiting for us, and we all need to sleep."

Serena's face took on a look of concern as Ash started to stand. "Are you sure that you're feeling better about Goodra, Ash? I realize we didn't exactly stay on the subject for very long..." The girl gently prodded Pikachu to let it know they were moving, and the mouse jumped up to its place on Ash's shoulder.

The boy offered his girlfriend a hand, which she took gratefully, clutching a few of the flowers and her ribbon in the other hand. "Like I said, Serena. My problem with Goodra was that his leaving sparked awareness in me for the first time. I'm not happy that it left, but I've made my peace with the departure now, especially since it lead me to my true feelings about you."

The blush and shy smile that arose on Serena's face was incredibly cute to Ash. _I guess I'll be getting used to using that word more as well._ "Oh, Ash..." She tightened her grip on the trainer's hand, prompting him to follow suit as they finally bid farewell to the site of so many unleashed emotions.

Before really leaving, Ash called out for Frogadier, and Serena mimed the call for her braixen. A moment or two of yelling rewarded them with the appearance of the pokémon, walking again hand in hand, showing no trepidation once they realized that their trainers were mirroring the behavior. Frogadier appeared to have shaken off the majority of the effects of the poison, keeping its head held high as it returned to its trainer. Ash gave the two a thumbs up of approval while Serena teased Braixen a bit about the pokémon's unleashed feelings before the human couple thanked the two for scouting and returned their pokémon for the night. The couple then began to saunter through the woods towards their own sleep, taking the time to completely enjoy each other's presence despite Ash's earlier point that they needed to return to allow their friedns to go to bed. The two had found something new together, and Ash for once was going to take as much time as possible to truly soak it in as they walked hand in hand together. _Whatever's out there, ahead of me... There's no way I won't be able to take it on as long as Serena's by my side._ Serena herself could be mistaken for being in heaven. Ash couldn't blame her, the happiness that had taken over her entire person transferring to him easily through the two's conjoined hands. _Who knows how long she's pined and worked just to get to this moment. I'm just glad that I found out later rather than never. I can't take this from her, and I certainly don't want to._ Eventually, however, the two did manage to make their way back to the camp, Ash spotting Clemont, Bonnie, Pancham, Fletchinder, and thankfully Hawlucha seated around the fire. Ash decided to approach with far less subtlety than Serena had used earlier. "Hey guys, we're back!" he called out to the entire campsite.

Everyone in the area shot up at the exclamation, even Serena, who didn't realize in her bliss that Ash had intended to alert everyone to their presence or even that they had arrived at camp. She tried quickly to detach her hand from Ash, but failed to succeed in keeping the hand holding from being seen by everyone. Bonnie's jaw dropped. There wasn't even time for the girl to shoot her boyfriend a dirty look before Bonnie was all over them, asking rapid fire questions while prancing around the new couple and exclaiming things along the lines of "I did it!" and "I knew it all along!"

As the two scrambled desperately to calm down the young girl, Clemont stood carefully before walking over to the two. He whispered something Ash couldn't quite hear in Bonnie's ear, and the girl suddenly quieted, nodded, and returned to the campfire to say goodnight to Ash's pokémon before going to her and Serena's tent without any complaint. This didn't surprise Ash. Nothing could after the night he had just had. The only thing he wanted more than sleeping now was spending more time with Serena alone, but that clearly wasn't possible at the moment. Serena spoke up. "I don't know how you managed that, Clemont, but I want to know something else first. About... what you said to me when I came to get the antidote. I wanted to thank you for the advice. It helped me far more than you could possibly imagine. But... what in the world had gotten into you back there? You were like a completely different person!"

Clemont beamed, his eyes brimming with pride behind his glasses. "Well, I've learned a few tricks for dealing with Bonnie over the years, but that's beside the point. I only told you what Ash would have told you in the same situation. Sometimes we all just need a reminder of what we keep going for," Clemont explained, his eyes shifting to Bonnie's tent and back again as he spoke. "I had a lot of time to think when Fletchinder woke us up to take care of Pancham, which, by the way, needs to stay out of its poké ball until the morning. The medicine I gave it doesn't work inside a poké ball. I thought about how little of your problem made sense to me. I thought about what that could possibly have to do with Serena. When you returned in such a secretive manner, Serena, I knew something was amiss, but I also knew that the person I was wasn't going to be able to inspire you to keep going, so I channeled everything Ash taught me when I spoke to you, trying to be intimidating so I wouldn't let my terror at potentially ruining this situation forever show. It was the most scientific way I could comprehend the situation. I guess it worked then? Are you feeling better for real now, Ash?"

The vast majority of Clemont's words were lost on Ash, but he understood that the last question was directed at him. He took notice of the dumbfounded look on Serena's face as he responded. "Yeah! I feel great! I figured out that my mind was just trying to tell me that I wanted to be Serena's boyfriend!"

Clemont staggered back like he'd been shot. "Wait, WHAT!? BOYFRIEND?! But that has no scientific evidence backing it up whatsoever! How is that even possible!? Oh, I need to redo all of my calculations now! This needs to be recorded immediately!" Clemont threw his hands up in the air and stormed away into his tent, ranting about variables and affection.

Serena and Ash exchanged a small smile at the confusion they had incited in their friend. "Clemont gave me some great advice when I tried to get the antidote, but I guess even he didn't understand what he was talking about." Serena blushed sweetly at the memory.

Ash was baffled, but he figured piling on a little more confusion to the massive pile of different emotions he was feeling wasn't a big deal. Ash's remaining two Kalos pokémon made their way to the boy, and he thanked them for their efforts before returning them to their own poké balls to rest. "Well, I'll thank him for that. I guess... I'll see you tomorrow then?" Ash's smile gave way to a small frown. _I don't want to leave her... but she and I need to sleep._

Clemont and Bonnie had already returned to their respective tents for the evening, the fire they had started beginning to peter out and die. Serena matched the slightly sad gaze on Ash's face. "Yeah...I guess I have to stay out here with Pancham... I can't leave it out here in the night all by itself and I don't want to move it..." The suggestion in her tone seemed to hint at something, but Ash couldn't for the life of him understand what it was.

"Oh, do you want me to get your sleeping bag for you? It should be warmer than the ground." _I bet that's it. She must be as tired as I am._

The response Serena provided indicated just how far off Ash was. "I suppose so... but I was really hoping that a certain somebody would be willing to keep me company while I keep an eye on Pancham..."

That message was delivered formally to its recipient. "Oh! Right. Serena, would you like me to watch Pancham with you?"

Serena sighed in relief and grinned. "Why yes, Ash, I would! Thank you for asking!"

Ash sighed to himself as the two got comfortable on the ground around the last vestiges of the fire. _I really need to work on how this whole boyfriend thing is done._ Pancham was resting peacefully, all of the effort Clemont put into healing it really seeming to take an effect. Ash was grateful that he sent the little panda to his friend instead of trying to handle it himself. _There's no way I would have been able to patch Pancham up this well._ As he watched the rhythmic movements of the pokémon's chest as it rose up and fell down, he suddenly felt the head of the girl next to him lay down on his lap as he sat cross legged on the grass, Pikachu thankfully having left to lay next to Pancham when the two settled across from it, the dying fire between them and the pokémon. Ash responded with his first instinct, intertwining one hand in his girlfriend's hand tightly while using the other to stroke her hair gently. It wasn't for any reason Ash could explain, but the new position felt unequivocally right to him. The unshakeable smile that had developed on Serena's face seemed to agree. "Ash..." Serena muttered, halfway between consciousness and dreaming.

"Yes, Serena?" Ash responded quietly, in a soothing voice he didn't even know he could use.

"I love you. I love you a lot, Ash..." Serena muttered through her fatigue.

Ash felt himself slipping into the same land of dreams his partner was already headed towards, but he shook it off and responded. "I love you too, Serena. Good night."

"Good... ni...ght..." Serena managed to utter before her circadian rhythms took over for her.

Ash realized he wouldn't be able to sleep in his position, but there was no way he was going to move Serena and potentially rouse the girl from her slumber. That was okay though. He had gotten some sleep earlier that night. The fire finally sputtered and died out with one last crackle, leaving the two in darkness. That was okay, too. There was no need to bother with a fire when the love emanating between him and the incredible person resting on him was so warm.


End file.
